Their Secret Hideaway

The down-side of being under the spot-light is a limited privacy. Celebrities around the world can agree with that. In South Korea, little group or circle of friends of celebrities usually have their own hidden cave or secret hideaway. The place is used as a relaxing place and a place where they can be as comfortable as they want.

Clubs, restaurants and even some dance studios and beauty salon offered privacy for celebrities. But there are staffs and other people too so celebrities tend to be careful nonetheless.

It was 2018 when Kwangsoo suggested the idea of making a secret, hidden cave, exclusive only for the Running Man members.

“I’m down for it, it’s about time we have one, right?” Donghoon agreed instantly. “You just wanted a quiet place to drink huh, Donghoon-a?” Jongkook shoved the dongsaeng lightly. With the two of them starting a little fight, Jihyo raised a hand.

“Can we establish the rules first before deciding?” she asked the group.

“Joha, noona. Shoot.” Kwangsoo made the others turned their attention to Jihyo. “Don’t bring anyone else without everyone’s permission.”

Kwangsoo and Sechan turned to each other. “I made that for the two of you, naughty brats.” She joked. “If you want to bring girls, at least introduce them to us first.”

“Eonnie, that’s actually brilliant.” Somin clapped happily. The others knew how Kwangsoo and Sechan have several girls they can bring.

“Jihyo-ya, what’s the fun in that? The place Kwangsoo showed us have 3 rooms, we have enough space to pretend we know nothing of what these two are up to.” Donghoon tried to defend the male maknaes. “Count me out, then.” She sternly said.

“Jihyo-ya…” Donghoon tried.

“I only asked them to at least introduce and let us know beforehand, oppa. I think that’s fair, right?” she turned to Jaesuk who was really quiet and observing the situation. “Jihyo is right, Donghoon-a. We sometimes forget that Jihyo and Somin are still women, it’s uncomfortable for them.”

Jongkook scoffed playfully. “Pfft… like they introduce us to their past-boyfriends.” Somin gasped while Jihyo scoffed back. “And have my boyfriend to be judged by 4 of you? No thanks.”

Jihyo introduced her ex in 2017 to the members, well everyone except for Seokjin and Jaesuk. Somin was really polite while the other 4… not so much. She broke up with him not even 3 months later, while it was mainly because of their busy schedules—he also said that he was really intimidated with Jongkook, Donghoon, Kwangsoo and Sechan. That man is a CEO that time and the 4 managed to intimidate him over 2 dinners.

“What happened to that guy anyway?” Donghoon asked. “Right, you never told us why did you break up, noona.” Jihyo sighed. “He’s busy.” She said bitterly.

“Noona, how about we make a group chat and anyone who have guests can ask the permission on the chat room first?” Sechan suggested. “Oh, that’s a great idea, Sechan-a.” Jaesuk immediately backed him up. “If anyone breaks the rule, they will have to treat everyone else to dinner.” Jihyo proposed the idea.

“Deal.”

“Any restaurants that the others chose, not the one the rule-breaker picked.” Jihyo added. “Ah, we can all have one restaurant in mind and have the rule-breaker do a random pick.” Somin joined in. “Deal.”

December 2020

Jihyo has a 3 day-off that she wanted to use to relax. 2020 is a weird, scary and all-around hard year not only for her, but for everyone in the world. Oh how much she wanted to just fly somewhere and forget about work and responsibilities for a minute.

Jihyo woke up around 10 a.m and went to the kitchen to fix her own breakfast. Seongmoon must be out already, seeing how quiet the house is. To her surprise, the door of the guest room opened. “Eomma?” Jihyo almost choked on the apple she was eating.

“You just woke up?” her mom asked. “What time did you come home last night, anyway?”

Jihyo tried to remember but she can’t. She finished a CF shoot really late. “I don’t remember, eomma. When did you get here?” her parents live comfortably back in Pohang but they sometimes visit the house she shared with Seongmoon in Seoul.

“Yesterday. Your appa is out with Seongmoon to stock the fridge.” Jihyo’s mom poured a cup of coffee for the both of them. “Uri ddal, when will you get married? You’re turning 40 next year.”

Jihyo dreaded the marriage talk from her mom. Her dad is different as he’s not pushing Jihyo into anything she didn’t want. “And look at that empty fridge, did you even cook here? Or are you living with take-out food? There’s nothing edible in there.”

Jihyo kept her silence. It’s better not to talk back during a scolding from her mom. “Did you drink last night too? Is that why you can’t even remember going home?”

2 hours. Jihyo sat there for 2 hours, taking everything her mom said to her. Almost 6 months of not seeing her mom, she had to endure 2 hours of everything she heard before. Seongmoon and her appa came and save Jihyo from the misery. Jihyo’s body automatically move to help her brother and father with the groceries, successfully making her mother stopped.

“Uri ddal, how are you darling?” her father engulfed her in a hug as soon as the groceries are in place. “Appa, I’m great. How are you?”

Jihyo enjoyed a peaceful late-lunch with her family, thanking the universe that marriage talk went out the window as soon as her father and brother arrived. After the meal, she excused herself to her room to get ready. There goes her day off.

As soon as Jihyo arrived at the secret hideaway of Running Man members, she threw herself at the comfortable sofa and sighed loudly. She had to lie to her parents and brother that she had a meeting and leave as soon as she can. Seongmoon was a little bit suspicious of her since her manager didn’t pick her up like always, but he probably understand and didn’t say anything.

Jihyo checked her phone and it was almost 4 p.m, it's not even dark yet but judging by how bad her mood is, maybe she should drink something strong. She rummaged through the alcohol stock they have and pulled a bottle of whiskey. A little too strong for the time but she can’t help it, she hasn’t drink herself silly for a month now.

“What’s on the TV…” Jihyo wondered and turned the TV on to accompany her drinking. Nothing was interesting so she switched to play some music from youtube, Kim Jong Kook’s new song was on the home-page and she clicked it instantly. She immersed herself in the song, chuckling to herself that this is such a sad song to listen on a bad day.

Hours went by and she was a little too drunk to function. Random songs are playing in the background but she’s getting sleepy now. Maybe she needed a nap.

“Hyeong-nim, where to now?” Jongkook just finished a shoot for his SBS Entertainment Awards’ performance. “I’m going to meet with Donghoon and Kwangsoo at the hideaway in Gangnam.” His dongsaengs had been nagging him to spare some time for them and tonight is the night.

“Okay, I’ll take a cab home and you can take the car.” Gapjin said, his work is done for the night and Jongkook agreed. A night talk with Donghoon and Kwangsoo always bound to went well into the night anyway. “Thank you for a great work today, I’ll see you tomorrow hyeong-nim.” Gapjin said as soon as the car is parked. “Eo, see you tomorrow.”

Jongkook went into the elevator while checking his phone. Both Kwangsoo and Donghoon hasn’t replied so they’re probably still on their way.

When Jongkook was about to enter the passcode to the door, he can clearly heard music playing from the inside of the unit. Thankfully, the only unit on that floor is their secret hideaway so no one would be complaining. He was surprised when he saw no one at the living room, the place looked clean too and the light was off, he turned it on to see better. Only the TV was on with Bigbang’s song playing loudly. He turned it off, cursing anyone who left the TV on internally.

Jongkook’s phone vibrated, Donghoon is calling.

“Hyeong, I’m still 10 minutes away. Do you want to eat anything?”

“No thanks, Donghoon-a. Call Kwangsoo and ask where he is, he hasn’t answer any of my text.”

“On it, hyeong.”

So Donghoon wasn’t just here? Why the hell is the TV on, then? His heart felt like it fell off when the guest bedroom’s door opened.

Jihyo with messy hair and swollen face stood there, one hand on her forehead and one hand holding a bottle of whiskey. “Aish, so bright…” she cursed loudly. “Jihyo-ya! What are you doing here?”

The obviously drunk girl tried to steady herself, startled from Jongkook’s loud voice. “Ah oppa, you’re here?” she giggled instead of answering. Jongkook walked closer but took a step back when his nose caught the strong scent of alcohol. “Aigo, you smell.”

“Am I?” Jihyo sniffed her tshirt, she’s wearing that in such a cold weather?

“Why are you drinking alone here?”

To his horror, the girl laughed but cried at the same time. “I listened to your song oppa, on a verrrrry bad day, and it’s so sad. I’m sad too. I was sad and then your song made me sadder.”

“Ne? My song?” Jihyo nodded firmly, she probably regretted the idea of nodding because it made her dizzier than before. “Eung oppa, the new song.”

Ah she probably come across the song during her alone drinking time. “Why? What happened, Jihyo-ya?” Jongkook asked while trying to peel the bottle from her hand. On a closer look, it’s completely empty. She finished it herself? “I’m not telling you, too embarrassing to talk about. Not telling.”

Jongkook sighed to the ceiling. “Listen, Jihyo-ya. Donghoon and Kwangsoo are on their way—”

“Wae?” she asked innocently. “Because the 8 of us use this place as a hang-out place.” Jongkook simply said. “But I don’t want to meet anyone today.” Her eyes were spinning but Jongkook can see that she seriously didn’t want to meet anyone.

“What can I do then? They’re on their way.”

Jihyo pouted. “Can’t you do something about it? You’re strong, they’re both afraid of you, oppa.” For a drunk girl, she made a lot of sense. “I can’t just kick them out, you know.”

“Please?” she asked with the big but still spinning eyes of hers. “Please please please please please, oppa?”

“Can you stay inside the room and not make any noises?” he gave up, she always knew how to convince him. “Eung.”

“Stay in that room and don’t come out, okay?”

2 a.m. is when Donghoon and Kwangsoo finally decided to go. “Hyeong, you’re not coming?” Kwangsoo asked.