Chuncheon

Gangwon-do, South Korea

7pm

“Seriously?” Ji Hyo pouted as she tried to eat her ramen using a spoon.

Yes.

A spoon.

Just a spoon.

“I can’t believe my luck.” Ji Hyo had let out a small laugh. “We’re divorced, Jong Kook. So technically we’re having an affair and in some sort of rendezvous. But we end up in this cheap motel with no air-conditioning eating instant noodles with a spoon.”

Before Jong Kook can speak, his girlfriend slash lover had spoken too fast and too loudly again, he wasn’t given a chance. She was even eating her noodles with a spoon at that, which makes the situation difficult, yet she went blabbing.

“Your fans think you’re elite… and now you’ve taken your girlfriend to some dim-lit, no-name motel. There are mosquitoes in here, Kim Jong Kook… And the bathroom… goodness, the knobs of the faucet and the shower are rusting.”

Ji Hyo even took notice of those things.

Jong Kook just smiled and continued eating his own food. He was too tired from driving and was just thankful enough they managed to pass by a convenience store and was able to buy food. He just drove miles and miles without having any idea where to go; oh well, he wanted to go far, and that’s Chuncheon but where to exactly, he doesn’t know.

“Don’t smile at me.” She warned him.

Someone’s finding someone handsome when he smiles.

“Finish that fast and let’s take a bath.” Jong Kook told her.

“Yah! Kim Jong Kook!!!” Ji Hyo’s eyes widened.

“I mean let’s go to sleep.” Jong Kook laughed. “Hey, what’s with the reaction? As if this is the first time we’re going to…”

“Kim Jong Kook!!!”

Another Kim Jong Kook.

Another shriek.

“Don’t play innocent on me, Ji Hyo-yah.” Jong Kook was still laughing. “What are we going to do here? Watch the stars?”

“Kiss and hug.” Ji Hyo teased.

“Okay.” Jong Kook nodded while he smiled. “Kiss and hug it is. Don’t you wake me in the middle of the night asking for more than that.”

“What the hell was that?” Ji Hyo almost cursed. “I, never for once, did that, Kim Jong Kook.”

Kim Jong Kook, full name, again.

Awww. This is interesting.

And the teasing continues.

The exchange of flirtatious smiles was painful; they were exciting and happy but numbered. They both know the clock is ticking for them. These are counted moments. As if there is an alarm waiting to sound off. A time bomb about to explode anytime soon.

“Ah, really, as if I didn’t know that you just fake having those bad dreams in the middle of the night just to get my attention… those ‘I don’t feel so well, Jong Kook’ with puppy eyes… and those sleepwear… aigoo… why aren’t they the same? It’s a bit too y some days of the month.”

Some days of the month…

Some days of the month are the safe days of the month.

Ji Hyo’s jaw dropped.

Is Jong Kook suggesting she was seducing him?

“Whatever you created there in your silly erted mind is not true at all.” Ji Hyo said calmly. “But from now on, if you want it, you have to beg for it, Kim Jong Kook.”

“Okay.” But cool Jong Kook still smiled and agreed. “Beg? Okay, I got it.”

“Hey.” Ji Hyo suddenly turned serious. “Instead of those things, can we think of our situation right now?”

“We can’t sleep in the car, Ji Hyo-yah. This will do for the night.” Jong Kook was dead set on hitting the dusty and might-be-mite-infested single bed on their rented room.

“I don’t mean that.” Ji Hyo bit her lip. “I mean what do we do now… We can’t see each other now, can we?”

Jong Kook continued eating. He didn’t reply.

“Kim Jong Kook!” Ji Hyo was impatient. “You have to think, please… you have to. We can’t let this go on this way… please.”

“I actually had something in mind but…”

“What?” Ji Hyo stood up and tugged his shirt. “I couldn’t think of anything. I don’t want to cheat on Ji Hoon but breaking up with him will be… oh, I can’t imagine that yet. What is it?”

“Let’s get you PREGNANT.” Jong Kook said.

He wasn’t joking.

He didn’t even smile.

Damn.

Ji Hyo sighed and returned to her seat across her handsome and y ex-husband. Too much for her eagerness to resolve their case. Jong Kook wanted to make a baby to end their misery. That’s too obvious that they’re at the end of the line. Jong Kook and Ji Hyo had no reason to see each other everyday or often as they want anymore.

Combining their genes (again) maybe their last resort.

Not bad.

Ji Hyo looked defeated this time and she said in a more depressed tone, “Grandma and Grandpa will be hurt.”

Jong Kook stared at the water bottle before drinking. He knew that of course as much as he knew that they don’t have a choice but to keep their relationship hidden now.

Hidden forever.

Being husband and wife and now this.

“We can’t do this, Jong Kook.” Ji Hyo added. “We can’t hurt Grandma and Grandpa. We both know that.”

“I guess we just hurt ourselves then.” Jong Kook stood up. “You asked me to think of a way, but you know we’ll always end up hurting them anyway.”

“It’s us or them.” Jong kook took a towel from his bag; with a disappointed look, he told Ji Hyo before going inside the bathroom. “It’s going to hurt me hurting them too. But I don’t have a choice, Ji Hyo. But it seems like you do. You are making choices of your own.”

Ji Hyo heard him lock the bathroom door.

And she heard Jong Kook’s disappointment that he thought she was hesitating.

It was a single bed, but nevertheless they fit in. Jong Kook was just facing the opposite side and sulking the whole night. He didn’t even wait for Ji Hyo to come out of the bathroom; he went ahead and slept (or at least pretended to be asleep).

Truth to be told, they really couldn’t be together anymore. This is an affair now and this time together is like one precious moment and they’re wasting it.

Jong Kook is determined to break up with Soo Ae; no questions about that. Someone is bound to get hurt, that is like cast in stone already. With complicated love triangles and squares, it is expected that at least two of the parties involved will suffer, if not all. But Jong Kook had to make a choice; and his heart already did before his mind could.

Ji Hyo, despite having a stable relationship with Ji Hoon could no longer deny that she would choose her husband over her boyfriend. And that one can be counted as a fact too.

Yes.

It’s the Commander over the ever-reliable Google man.

When you need to look for something, you Google it.

When someone asks you where you got to know of something, you answer “I’ve Google-d it.”

Always there.

Always reliable.

Trusted by many.

Go-to guy.

The Google Man.

Lee Ji Hoon.

But the ‘Just the way you are’ guy is Kim Jong Kook.

He can END the GAME with just one song, remember?

No, seriously, he claimed ownership when he became Ji Hyo’s husband and he proved to be a loving one at that. He had hurt her, yes and made her life a reality K-drama show but he wooed her back. He went to drastic measures to get Ji Hyo again. No one could probably have endured all the things Jong Kook have gone through. And Jong Kook simply didn’t give up until he saw Ji Hyo smiling like an idiot with a pretend family with Ji Hoon. He saw her happy with little babies with a man beside her and that’s when he decided he’ll let go.

That is freaking dramatic, hell it is, but it is shouting true love by all means.

They’re both willing to give up their respective partners. It may not be right, may not be ideal in all aspects but they were going to go for it. Divorced happened, but still it ain’t over for Mr. and Mrs. Kim Jong Kook until they’ve come face to face with their ultimate hurdle.

Grandma and Grandpa Lee.

No way.

There’s no way they can be hurt. That is a golden rule.

During the loneliest time of Ji Hyo’s life, when she had no one but herself, she got the Lees. They were her family. She spent her birthday with them. They were her strength when she herself wanted to give up. It’s out of the question whether or not Ji Hyo will come and ask for forgiveness later on If she leaves their grandson Ji Hoon. Ji Hyo could never be thankful enough, and she always thought she can never repay their kindness.

Jong Kook wasn’t treated any less. Like a real grandson, he enjoyed being pampered and taken care of by the old couple as if he was the son of their own child. He was feeling guilty all this time having hurt Ji Hyo before and now having this kind of relationship with her despite the fact he knew of the existence of Ji Hoon, Grandma and Grandpa Lee’s biological grandson. He too is pained knowing that they’re going to be hurt.

“Jong Kook…” Ji Hyo whispered; she hugged him and kissed him on his left temple. “Kim Jong Kook, I know you’re awake… just listen to what I’ve got to say. Let’s continue seeing each other like this. Until I can break up with Ji Hoon and until we can tell Grandma and Grandpa… we’ll have our baby when everything’s okay… when everyone’s happy already. Not when Mommy and Daddy is still feeling guilty hurting other people.”

She continued hugging him, tighter by the minute. “I love you, Jong Kook.”

A deep voice responded in that dark room. “You’re begging, aren’t you?”

Ji Hyo didn’t have a choice but to laugh, and still, she hugged him closer to her. “Pabo, you’re supposed to beg, not me.”

Jong Kook quickly shifted position and went on top of her. He planted a quick kiss on her lips and smiled. “Then I am… I am begging.”

A y smile was reciprocated by an equally y smile.

The eye-smile was returned by another pair of sweet eyes smiling.

Then hungry, fervent and hot kisses were exchanged in a matter of seconds. Clothes were thrown on the uneven motel floor. Soft, heart-touching and emotionally drenched I love you’s were heard apart form the unavoidable noises they created. He’s calling out her name; she responds by calling out his name. They held onto each other’s existence, on each other’s touch. Impending difficulties were set aside for the time being.

It’s Ji Hyo and Jong Kook time, the rated version.

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