Jong Kook wasn’t paying attention to what Ji Hyo was saying; everything was a buzz in his ears. The man’s eyes were transfixed at her lips – the perfect bow of the upper lip and the fullness of the lower one, moving in tandem as she spoke; they looked somewhat mesmerising and Jong Kook couldn’t tear his eyes off of them. He didn’t even notice that Ji Hyo had stopped talking for a while now, giving him an irritated look for spacing out on her. He blinked when he felt a sharp nudge on his side.

“See something you like, Kim Jong Kook?” she teased, smirking at the older man. The smirk turned into a blush, though, when he gave her a reply.

“Your lips.”

Clearing , Ji Hyo tried to sound normal when she spoke. “What about them?”

He lifted a hand to touch the upper lip but stopped short when he realised what he was doing and where they were, retracting the hand away before his fingers made contact with the softness he was sure Ji Hyo’s lips had. “It’s healing nicely – the cut,” he croaked. “Does it still hurt?”

Ji Hyo was stiff when Jong Kook’s fingers ghosted right above her lips but she schooled her expression well and only sighed when he dropped his hand. Leaning back on her seat after giving a slight shrug, Ji Hyo reached for the salt and pepper shakers on the dining table in front of her and fiddled with them. “It’s still quite a when I eat anything spicy,” she admitted, taking a glance at the older man. “But it’s better now, really. It's been three days,” she quickly added when she saw a frown on Jong Kook’s forehead.

Jong Kook clenched his fists. “I should have given that Hyung a harder punch,” he said very disappointedly that Ji Hyo actually laughed out loud.

“Oh, my Oppa – I think you’ve done more than enough. You scared the hell out of everyone when you attacked him.”

The hearty laughter was enough to make the anger dissipated and Jong Kook felt his shoulders relaxed. He smiled at the woman next to him, oddly happy to hear the way she addressed him just now. He couldn’t deny that he was still angry that Ji Hyo was hurt, however accidental it might have been. Still, it was also a true fact that the accident was also the reason why he and Ji Hyo were sitting side by side in a restaurant having their dinner together – that they were no longer angry at each other.

...

The filming started awkwardly enough. The PDs informed them that they were going to travel a little bit so they decided to dine before they left. It was one dining out experience that Jong Kook didn’t wish to repeat, really, but it was quite another story.

They were driving in a big van and were briefed about the location of the filming; it was an old soju factory on the outskirt of Seoul, around twenty minutes from the city centre by car. The place was supposed to be one of the last traditional soju factories around Seoul so everyone was pretty excited – there was teasing that Ji Hyo most probably spent the filming hiding in one of the warehouse and did a soju tasting spree, one that she responded by telling them she’d rather not be in the filming if she could really do that. They were laughing at her answer – all of them save one very gloomy looking Jong Kook, but nobody paid attention to him.

The laughter died instantly on their lips the moment they stepped out of the car. It was nothing like whatever they had expected when the word ‘traditional’ was involved. In front of them was a very large Hanok in the shabbiest condition as it could possibly get and when their eyes ventured around they found several smaller ones that they assumed to be the warehouses along with two nearly-collapsing Wondumak at the far back.

Illuminated by the bright yellow light from the shooting lightings, all the buildings didn’t look less terrifying. They could see some badly patched Giwa on top of the main building as well as the chipped wood scattered on the porch.

Ji Hyo took a step backwards toward Jong Kook who was standing behind him; this time she did it involuntarily instead of for show. She wasn’t afraid but somehow the condition of the buildings left her feeling rather nervous. She heard the older man shuffle forward and the next thing she knew, her back was flushed against his front and his right hand was on her hip to keep her in place.

Angry as she still was at the older man, Ji Hyo couldn’t help feeling grateful for his steady presence. There was no question asked, he didn’t need one – he simply noticed her body language and moved accordingly to provide her with some comfort. The small squeeze on her hip spoke more volume than words. She was a bit embarrassed for lashing out on him when he did nothing but be there for her, but there was this stubborn part of her which demanded an explanation on why he was brushing her off without any reasons. She stopped herself from analysing things too much when she heard an anxious chuckle from the person next to him.

Haha grimaced at the PD, trying to be as polite as he could be when he asked whether the factory was still doing production or if it was abandoned. There was uncomfortable silence among them for a second before one of the PDs sheepishly admitted that it was actually in the brink of bankruptcy and the owner could use with some publication.

 “You’ve got to be kidding me,” was Haha’s reaction to the news. He clamped his mouth the moment those words were out of his mouth, realising that he was being rather rude. It wasn’t until after his VJ signed that he wasn’t being filmed when he could let out a relieved breath. But of course, Ha Dong Hoon could be so tactless sometimes. His next question earned him a collective groan, two ‘Yah!’ from Ji Hyo and Suk Jin, and a punch on his arm from Gary. “It isn’t haunted, is it?”

“I’ll haunt you first,” muttered Ji Hyo at him.

“Says the woman who’s cuddling her boyfriend for protection,” Haha replied without missing a beat, sniggering at the blush that crept onto Jong Kook’s cheeks.

“I’m cold!” Ji Hyo said indignantly. She turned her head at Jong Kook and glared, asking him to come to her defence. Ji Hyo didn’t move an inch from her current position.

“She’s cold,” quipped Jong Kook right on cue. He caught the little smile on the corner of Ji Hyo’s mouth and he winked at her while his expression remained unchanged. Everyone laughed.

Haha snorted, “Of course you are.” That earned him a swat from Ji Hyo. She did step away from Jong Kook afterwards, though.

The production team decided to start the filming as the sky was getting dark. They announced that there wouldn’t be teams for the day and that it was a personal challenge. He said nothing about guests so everyone just assumed that there would be none – it was reasonable, since this was a personal challenge. Then Jo PD dropped the bomb with the mission – they were to start off from separate locations within the same distance from the factory. Whoever found all the puzzle pieces hidden along the way and arrived first to the main building would be the winner.

“Including the woods?” Haha squeaked.

The PD nodded. “Especially the woods,” he confirmed. “Now please take a piece of paper each – it will show you your starting point locations.”

“Crybaby,” Ji Hyo called out teasingly.

Gwang Soo was the first to reach the box containing the folded paper; his hand was halfway in when suddenly Jong Kook interrupted him by grabbing his wrist. “Wait,” the muscular man said urgently. Everyone had their eyes on him. “What about Ji Hyo?”

“What about her?” asked Gwang Soo.

 “Yes – What about me?” Ji Hyo raised her eyebrows, immediately turning around and looking at Jong Kook suspiciously.

Jong Kook clicked his tongue impatiently, frowning at Ji Hyo while still addressing the PD when he spoke, “She’s a woman. Isn’t it dangerous to separate her from us all? I mean – look at this place. PD-nim, can you reconsinder?” He ignored Ji Hyo’s warning glare telling him to shut up.

The PDs and script writers looked at one another uneasily. It didn’t actually occur to them that it would be a problem, mostly because they had been doing the trial in the afternoon when there was still light out. The chief PD was going to say something but Ji Hyo beat him to it.

“Oh, for the love of god, Kim Jong Kook!” Ji Hyo growled, “I’m not a child.”

“Who says you were?”

“You are exaggerating!” Ji Hyo fired, trying so hard to control the tone of her voice – she knew that they were filming and that she was making a scene. She was really frustrated for not being able to lash out completely because it would be inappropriate; she had to keep her emotions in check so that the viewer would think that this was only for show. The problem was that it wasn’t. “The production team must have thought about everything. They won’t be so careless as to endanger any of us,” she said, her eyes were glaring daggers at the older man. “If you’re scared, just say so!”

 “Honestly, Ji Hyo-yah! Have some sense!”

“Honestly yourself!”

By now Jo PD had told all the VJs to stop filming. This had started to become out of hands and it didn’t take an idiot to know that this argument was a real thing, not the silly bickering Jong Kook and Ji Hyo often had in the show. He looked around and saw that most of the crew was watching the couple with open curiosity; he sighed. This was going to be a long night, indeed.

Jong Kook scowled as Ji Hyo stepped forward into his personal space. This woman was testing his patience; he was an inch away from yelling at her – the only thing that stopped him was the memory of Ji Hyo’s drunken confession about her hating people yelling at her. “ happens to people no matter how prepared they are,” he stated firmly, trying to put logic into the angry woman’s head.

“What? Like you happen to me?” Ji Hyo wasn’t thinking when she snapped back at Jong Kook. She wanted so much to hurt him, not because of this silly thing but because of the hurt he had caused her. But the moment she said the words, she truly regretted it. Ji Hyo clasped with a hand as if trying to trap back the cruel comparison she had just made but it was too late. The damage had just been done. “Oppa...” she whispered to apologise as she took a step towards Jong Kook; she didn’t take another step, though, for the man staggered backwards and raised a warning finger at her telling her not to come closer.

Jong Kook couldn’t even look at Ji Hyo. He knew that she didn’t really mean it – her reaction showed him as much – but it didn’t change the fact that she had hurt him. He turned around and grimaced as he saw that literally everyone was staring at them. Closing his eyes briefly to calm himself down, Jong Kook bowed at them to apologise for delaying the filming. From the corner of his eyes he could see Ji Hyo doing the same and his heart ached to see how pale she was, her trembling hand when tucking a strand of hair behind her ear didn’t go unnoticed by him. Again, he sighed as he felt a pull to go to the woman and comfort her. You are a masochist, Kim Jong Kook, he berated himself, she is hurting you and all you can think of is how you can ease her pain.

There were no other incidents after that, though. They set out to their designated locations without much gusto, partly because of the earlier incident and to be honest, nobody was looking forward to doing scavenger hunt in the god-forsaken place. All they thought about was finding the puzzle pieces as quickly as possible so they could head home; winning was no longer the priority. But of course the production team had another idea.

When his personal VJ told him that Jae Suk was out, Jong Kook was more than surprised. A chill ran through his spine as he deducted something – they were in the woods. At night. The only person that felt at ease moving around among the bushes and trees without so much as a torch to help them see was... “Please don’t tell me Min Soo Hyung is the guest today,” he said to his VJ, who grinned uncomfortably to confirm his suspicion. He was going to say something when the VJ’s walkie-talkie burst to life again; informing them that Gary was also out.

Jong Kook propelled his tired legs forward on this news, determined to find all the puzzle pieces and won before Choi Min Soo could get to out Ji Hyo; he was so preoccupied with looking down that he didn’t see someone move swiftly behind him and tackle him to the ground. In a blink, Jong Kook was out.

Being the third person that was sent to jail was fun. Upon entering the prison and seeing Gary with a mug of hot tea in hand, Jong Kook burst out laughing; he laughed even harder when Gary proceeded to tell him how Min Soo ‘attacked’ him. Jae Suk’s story was no less terrifying as he was the first – he said that he was going to give a piece of his mind to whoever cruel enough writing the script of this episode.

It was after Gwang Soo and Suk Jin were captured that Jong Kook began to panic. There was no way that this was a coincidence that Choi Min Soo left Ji Hyo to be the last. His suspicion was confirmed when a minute later Haha dragged himself in the jail, looking as if he had just seen a ghost.

“That Hyung is really going to be the death of me soon,” Haha mumbled as he sprawled on the floor, losing the strength of his legs. He was still panting when something made his blood run cold.

A shrill pierced through the night from somewhere in the woods and everyone was suddenly alert.

“It’s Ji Hyo –...” Jae Suk didn’t have the chance to finish his sentence for the next moment Jong Kook had practically busted the wooden door open and ran outside. The national MC blinked in shock and followed suit, the other members and VJs trailing behind him.

The muscular man ran blindly through the wood towards where he thought to be the source of Ji Hyo’s terrified scream. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, adrenaline pumping it and heightened his senses. Jong Kook halted when his eyes saw the light from the cameras from his left-hand side and he changed direction, confident that he was on the right track. The first thing he saw was Ji Hyo lying on the ground, crumpled in foetal position while Min Soo was kneeling over her. He saw red when the woman stirred a little and tilted her head to the light – there was blood on her face.

Jong Kook growled and in an instant, he was on top of Choi Min Soo, launching several punches until someone was brave enough to pull the two men apart.

...

“You’re lucky he was quite understanding about your attacking him, Oppa,” Ji Hyo’s voice broke through his musing. “It could turn ugly for Running Man if he was offended by you.”

“He was lucky somebody stopped me,” Jong Kook replied absent-mindedly. “He did it on purpose, you know, leaving you until the last.”

“Don’t I know that? I think he was just curious about not being able to capture me back during his first time as a guest.”

Jong Kook frowned. “It doesn’t make it right,” he said. “It’s one thing being curious – but there is no excuse attacking women like that.”

“He didn’t attack me,” Ji Hyo began, “No, Oppa, really – he didn’t attack me.”

“But...”

“He jumped in front of me, startling me – that was why I screamed. Then I tripped and fell face first on the ground. Min Soo Sunbaenim was checking my injuries when you pounced at him,” she explained for the first time – Jong Kook had been too angry to listen to her explanation before so she let him be. The woman smiled at him. “That was very chivalrous of you, my Oppa, no matter how unnecessary it was.”

The man cringed, totally embarrassed now that he knew the real reason. He couldn’t say anything and opted on silence until Ji Hyo spoke again.

“I think this isn’t working out, Jong Kook Oppa.”

“What isn’t?”

“This – you and me together.”

“Ji Hyo-yah,” Jong Kook exhaled, tired that their conversation had returned again to this. “We’ve been through this before.”

She nodded. “And we’ve yet to reach a decision. Oppa – can’t you see how damaging this is for the two of us? You attacked a guest because you thought he was hurting me. If we weren’t together, would you have done it?” she pressed edgily, “You would still be worried, I have no doubt – but you wouldn’t have run away to find me. You would sit and wait until we returned.”

“I would still have done the same thing,” Jong Kook responded stubbornly.

“No, you wouldn’t.” They locked gaze. “I know you – you wouldn’t.”

He looked away, couldn’t actually deny it. “I care about you so much,” was all that he could say. “I hate seeing you hurt.”

Ji Hyo let out a defeated sigh at the sadness in Jong Kook’s voice. She couldn’t shake off the feelings that something was on his mind – something that involved their fake relationship – but she didn’t know how to address it without making him flinch away from her again the way he did the previous weekend. They sat in silence – him watching people on the street and her fiddling with the empty plates in front of him. It was an awkward several minutes before he broke the silence.

“What did you mean back then?” he asked. He turned his head back to look at the younger woman. Noting the confusion on her eyes, Jong Kook elaborated, “You said that you weren’t going to let me ruin your life. What did you mean?”

Ji Hyo shrugged but she kept her eyes on Jong Kook’s. “You sounded so different on the phone on Sunday, like there was something bothering you but you were unwilling to tell me. And well, I had this silly notion that you’d been playing me all along.”

“Why would I do that?”

“How would I know? You aren’t exactly the most eloquent man in the whole world,” replied Ji Hyo without intending to be sarcastic. “You hurt me, Jong Kook Oppa – you pulled away but you didn’t tell me why. Still don’t. I was so angry at you back then. But you know what is silly?” Ji Hyo paused for a second, chuckling sadly as she avoided his eyes, “The silly thing is that there was this small part of me which was so relieved that you finally wanted to leave – because that would mean Chang Joo Oppa would have no more reasons to hurt you.”

He could hear her voice crack at the end of the sentence and Jong Kook was so compelled to tell her the truth. “Ji Hyo-yah, I...”

Jong Kook never got the chance to finish his sentence. A stranger – a woman in her mid-thirties – suddenly stopped by their table and without saying anything, she took Ji Hyo’s glass from the table and threw the content – it was just water and it wasn’t hot, thank goodness – on Ji Hyo’s head. She slurred out the word ‘’ as she ran away.

The couple was too shocked to react and by the time Jong Kook could move, the woman had fled the restaurant. He quickly grabbed some tissues and helped Ji Hyo dry her face; she remained stoic all the while even when Jong Kook led her out of the restaurant and into his car. He kept glancing at her, trying to coax her into speaking but was only replied with silence. Ji Hyo stared unblinkingly into the space.

They were halfway back to Ilsan when Jong Kook heard a strangled sob from the seat next to him and from the corner of his eyes, Jong Kook saw Ji Hyo’s shaking with her shoulders hunched, a hand was covering . Each sob drove a knife into Jong Kook’s heart and he felt his heart bleed for the woman. Once again he failed to protect her. 

A/N: The italicised part is a flashback. Lemme know if you prefer having flashbacks written in different colours instead of italic, anything to help it make it easier for you to read. 

Thanks for reading.