The first thing that came to Ji Hyo’s mind as she roused from her slumber was how uncharacteristically warm she was compared to how she’d felt before she fell asleep that night. She wasn’t complaining, obviously, but it was quite strange to wake up warm when the digital clock on the wall showed that the temperature was three degrees lower than the last time she’d seen it.

It was still too early to wake up; from the sound of it, Jae Suk was still fast asleep on his own bed on the other side of the partition. Ji Hyo shifted in her cocoon of blankets, hoping that she, too, could catch more snooze before the crew woke up. It was then she realized that her cocoon had grown overnight—it was considerably heavier. Ji Hyo frowned but then dismissed it, thinking it was only her imagination. She yawned and buried her head under the top layer of her covers. As she inhaled, her nose was hit with a familiar scent. Ji Hyo’s eyes snapped open. What the…?

Her hand crept out from under the blankets to feel it. She’d been right—there was an extra layer of blanket on top of her own, and on top of all that there was a large thick jacket laid out. She’d recognize the jacket any time: it was Kim Jong Kook’s.

The cobweb of sleepiness was immediately gone from her eyes; Ji Hyo was wide awake now. It was beyond her that she hadn’t heard him coming into her room nor felt anything at all. Talk about sleeping like the dead! But what about Jae Suk? Hadn’t he heard anything, either? Ji Hyo shook her head, thinking that if it’d been the case and it’d been a thief coming in instead of Jong Kook, the two of them would have been dead by now for real.

She ran her fingers through the soft material of the jacket, thinking that if these things were here with her then it meant that Jong Kook had nothing to cover himself from the cold. She began to worry; what if he caught a cold? Jong Kook hated it when he had even a sniffle. Ji Hyo thought whether or not she should go into the men’s room and return the blanket to him. But she didn’t know where he’d be sleeping, and it’d be creepy if a woman went into a room full of men in the middle of the night, right? She didn’t go through with the plan. She pressed the jacket to her face, inhaling Jong Kook’s scent. He rarely used perfumes and so the jacket smelled just like him. Ji Hyo felt something stirring in her; the feeling grew strong that she had to press her legs together to stop a sudden dull throbbing on her nether region. Get a hold of yourself, Cheon Seong Im—what are you, a fifteen-year-old?

Trying to control her breathing, Ji Hyo quickly sat up, nearly yelping when the cold air hit her as her layers of blankets fell from her shoulders and pooled on her lap. The shock of the sudden change of temperature subdued the heat inside her. Ji Hyo blushed even though nobody could see her. She glanced at the cameras; there were no blinking red lights. Jae Suk didn’t turn them back on after their conversation last night.

When the cold began to be unbearable, Ji Hyo slipped her arms into Jong Kook’s jacket, wearing it. She zipped the jacket up to her neck then lay back down, pulling all the blankets back to their original place: tucked safely around her shoulders and back. She took another deep breath, smiling subconsciously as she enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by Jong Kook’s scent. Wearing the jacket gave her an odd calming sensation, like she was being wrapped in his arms and was being lulled back to sleep. She was touched by Jong Kook’s attention, and the last thing she thought of before succumbing into the call of slumber was that whomever Jong Kook loved had to be the luckiest woman on earth.

***

“Did you sleep well?”

Ji Hyo lifted her head to see Jong Kook looming over her. For a split second, she couldn’t reply, too mesmerized by what she saw. He looked fresh out of the shower; his hair was still damp and the curls fell on his forehead deliciously, like they were inviting her to brush it away. He was back in his gwanbok, which added the charisma.

“From the blank look you’re giving me, I take it you didn’t,” Jong Kook concluded when Ji Hyo said nothing.

“Ah, I did.” Ji Hyo woke up from her trance. “I did, Oppa. Thanks to you.”

Jong Kook grinned. “Me? What did I do?” He feigned ignorance, sitting next to her and her clue cards. “Share with me?”

“If the jacket was a ruse to get me to share my clues with you, you’re out of luck, Kim Jong Kook.”

He laughed hard. “We’re not even filming now!” He waved his hands at the crew, who were still setting up. “Come on, Ji Hyo-yah. I’ll share mine.”

Ji Hyo rolled her eyes. She might be enchanted by his gentlemanliness, but she wasn’t stupid. “You have nothing to share, you little liar!” she scoffed.

“I’ll share my winning with you,” he bargained.

“Whoa, whoa… don’t get ahead of yourself, Mr. Tiger. It’s going to be me sharing my winning with you.”

Jong Kook’s eyes gleamed. “Is that a promise, Cheon Seong Im?”

The low tone he was using made Ji Hyo’s breath catch on her chest. Her heart started to pick up some speed. She wasn’t thinking when she flirted back, “Do you want it to be a promise, Jong Kook-ah?”

He leaned closer to her ear so that nobody could hear them. “I want it to be anything you can give me, darling,” he whispered, his breath caressed the skin of Ji Hyo’s neck. The hair on Ji Hyo’s nape stood, and goosebumps raised along her arms. He pulled away quickly, winking at her and left to talk to their guest who was passing by.

Ji Hyo was smiling like a fool even after Jong Kook was out of her sight. He had awakened something in her that she didn’t know about; all that she understood was that she didn’t hate it. On the contrary, she liked it. A lot.

“What was that about?” Jong Kook’s manager appeared beside Ji Hyo, looking at her suspiciously. His tone was unfriendly.

“Sorry?” Ji Hyo shook her head. She didn’t understand. Her smile began to falter.

“Didn’t you two break up? What are you doing acting like you’re still in a relationship?” Gap Jin pushed. “Stop stringing him around, Song Ji Hyo-ssi. Our Jong Kook is a good man who deserves more than a woman like you who easily say ‘break up’ when things start to get difficult.”

“But I don’t…”

“Stay away from him. He doesn’t need any more bad press in his career right now.”

“We’re just friends, Gap Jin-ssi,” Ji Hyo’s voice was small. All the feelings of happiness she’d felt just a second ago had gone in an instant, replaced with shame and heaviness. “I never meant any harm to Jong Kook Oppa.”

“Good—keep it that way.” Gap Jin glanced around to make sure Jong Kook wasn’t nearby. “Better yet, stop being friendly with him. You’re toxic.” He left without giving Ji Hyo a chance to say anything else.

Ji Hyo was frozen on the spot for a minute, staring forward with blank eyes. Gap Jin’s words stung; it hurt so much like a er punch on her guts. Then she snapped out of it, realizing where she was. Tears started to prickle hotly behind her eyes. She blinked them away. Breathe, Seong Im, breathe, she repeated the phrase like a mantra in her head, reminding herself that she still had shooting to do. Come on, Song Ji Hyo—get a hold of yourself! She chided.

With trembling hands she collected the clue cards she’d been working on, stuffing all of them into her bag. Her shaking was so bad that some of the cards fell out of her hands and scattered on the ground. “!” she cursed. She squatted and hastily picked them up one by one, pouring all her concentration into doing the simple task that she didn’t realize that somebody was coming over to help until she felt a strong hand on her elbow.

“Don’t touch me!” Ji Hyo cried out involuntarily, yanking her arm away. She took a step back and glared at the person touching her. Kim Jong Kook. Of course. She shouldn’t have been surprised. She watched with wide eyes as he stepped back with his hands lifted in front of him in surrender. His eyes were gleaming with questions.

“Ji Hyo?”

She fisted her hanbok, shaking her head when Jong Kook was trying to get closer. From the corner of her eye, she saw some people glancing in their direction. Ji Hyo huffed in frustration, turned around and walked away in long strides in hope to find a place without any cameras around. It was a feat that she didn’t break into a run, especially when she heard heavy footsteps following her.

“Ji Hyo, wait.”

“Leave me alone.”

“Ji Hyo!” Jong Kook caught up with her easily and seized her by the arm. He turned her around to face him. “Hey,” he asked, confusion painted on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” It was an unconvincing lie. “Leave me alone.”

Jong Kook furrowed his brows, not understanding the sudden change. She’d looked so happy not five minutes ago. “Ji Hyo-yah, tell me what’s wrong.” He saw a crew member walk by, throwing them curious glances. Jong Kook growled. Where was privacy when he needed it? Determined to get to the bottom of this (and exhausted by this hot-and-cold behavior), Jong Kook took Ji Hyo by the wrist and pulled her to follow him. She resisted at first but Jong Kook was keeping a firm grip on her, knowing that she would eventually cave in as not to create a scene. He hated treating her like this but he didn’t know what else to do.

“Let go of me,” Ji Hyo said.

“Not before you tell me what’s the matter with you.” He took her inside the house they slept in, straight into the inner room. Jong Kook slid the door open forcefully, startling Haha and Gwang Soo inside.

“Omo!”

“Hyung, what the hell?!” Haha leaped onto his feet.

“Get out!” Jong Kook roared at the two younger men.

They exchanged a glance, then looked at a pale looking Ji Hyo, whose wrist was still held fast in Jong Kook’s strong grip. Haha stepped forward. “Hyung, what’s the matter?”

“I said, get out!”

The younger man swallowed, afraid at the display of anger. But he couldn’t just go and leave Ji Hyo alone with his angry Hyung even though Haha knew Jong Kook wouldn’t hurt her physically. “I’m not going anywhere, and neither is Gwang Soo if you don’t let her go,” he said firmly.

Jong Kook’s nose flared in fury. What did they think he’d do to the woman he loved? But then he looked down to see how his bigger hand was still holding on to Ji Hyo’s smaller, paler wrist like a handcuff. He staggered. No wonder they were thinking that he was going to hurt her. He loosened his grip enough for Ji Hyo to pull away. To his surprise, she didn’t.

“Noona, are you okay?” Gwang Soo went to her side. He touched Ji Hyo’s arm, the one being held, and gently pulled it to release it from Jong Kook’s hold. The tall man wrapped an arm around her shoulder, ready to usher her out of the room.

“Ji Hyo, we can go if you don’t want to talk to him,” Haha said. He glared at the older man. “Keep your temper in check first, Hyung. This is not how you treat a woman.”

Jong Kook’s gritted his teeth; his jaw hardened. He was so furious at being misunderstood even though he could understand where they were coming from—the way he’d dragged Ji Hyo around did look bad from an outsider’s point of view.

“Gwang Soo-yah, Haha Oppa, it’s okay. We just need to talk for a bit,” Ji Hyo spoke up, which surprised Jong Kook—he thought she’d bail at the first chance.

Haha didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure, Ji Hyo-yah? You don’t need to be afraid of Jong Kook Hyung.”

Jong Kook couldn’t help but feel proud of Haha for standing up for Ji Hyo even though he knew that Jong Kook could easily overpower him. He watched Ji Hyo’s reaction. The woman calmly nodded and smiled, assuring the other men to give them just five minutes to talk. His blood ran cold at the sight—this was peak acting, again.

Haha and Gwang Soo finally left the room, albeit reluctantly. They were still eyeing him suspiciously even as they closed the door behind them. Jong Kook waited until their footsteps were no longer heard before moving closer to Ji Hyo. She stepped back. Jong Kook kept his distance.

“What happened?” he went straight into the point.

“Nothing.”

“That’s some bull—you were okay not five minutes ago,” he spat out. “What’s wrong? Is it Baek Chang Joo? Did he send his henchman to threaten you? Who is it? I’ll have a word with them.”

Ji Hyo kept shaking her head. “It’s not him,” she said. “Just… please, let it go.”

Jong Kook ran his hand through his hair, yanking it in utter despair. He just couldn’t take it anymore. “I can’t,” he confessed. “When it’s about you—about us, I can’t. Please, Ji Hyo-yah, talk to me. We’re adults.”

A drop of tear fell from the corner of Ji Hyo’s eyes on hearing Jong Kook’s pleading tone. She was as tired as he was and wished for nothing more than for her to stop being so unsure about her feelings. This wouldn’t have happened if only she knew for sure of her feelings for Kim Jong Kook. She wiped the tear angrily. “You should’ve listened to me when I told you to stay away from me. You shouldn’t have made me confused and question my feelings for you. This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t oh-so-selfishly told me that you loved me!”

Jong Kook didn’t know what to say. Where was this coming from? “What…?”

“Now can you please listen? Stay away from me—it’s for the best. You deserve more than a woman like me.” Ji Hyo clutched at her chest, feeling so heavy she could drown in her own sorrow. “And I deserve to not have people insult me left and right because of you.”

“What is this all about?” Jong Kook raised his tone enough to convey his irritation; he still remembered how Ji Hyo hated being yelled at. It was getting harder not to yell, though. “Who planted that nonsense into your head?”

“Nobody.”

“Liar!”

“Don’t call me that,” Ji Hyo hissed.

“Then don’t lie to me.” Jong Kook closed his eyes, straining to keep his emotions in check. He counted to five before addressing Ji Hyo again. “What happened? Tell me.”

Should she? She’d created enough problems already, would she make it worse for Jong Kook by creating a rift between him and his manager? But she couldn’t hide the shame she’d felt when the bald man had called her toxic—like she was nothing but dirt beneath his shoes. “Your manager.”

“Gap Jin Hyung?” Jong Kook looked perplexed. “What about him?” Ji Hyo told him. The more she spoke, the redder Jong Kook’s face was with fury. How he wanted to strike his manager on his face right now. How dare he?!

“I can understand his point,” Ji Hyo said; there was no more expression on her face. “And in some way, I think he’s right.”

“There isn’t a single word he said to you was true,” Jong Kook countered. “You didn’t ‘string me along’ like what he said. I want to be close to you. And who is he to decide whom I want to be friendly with?”

“Oppa, don’t be a fool. In a way, I am stringing you around, aren’t I? If I knew for sure about my feelings—if I tell you I just want to be friends, you wouldn’t keep hoping.”

“You can’t decide that for me. Nobody can tell me what to or not to feel about you—not even my Eomma, not even you, and certainly not Gap Jin Hyung.” He was pissed to the bone at that man. “I’m going to have a word with him.”

Ji Hyo put herself between Jong Kook and the door, spreading her arms wide to stop him from going out of the room. “Don’t.”

“Step away, Ji Hyo-yah. He has no rights meddling with my private life like this; I need to make sure he knows that. And he doesn’t have any rights speaking to you like that.” Jong Kook put his hand on her shoulder, trying to push her out of the way.

Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around him. “No, don’t,” she mumbled against his chest. “Don’t make this worse for me.”

Jong Kook sighed in defeat. Hesitantly, he returned the hug loosely, giving Ji Hyo a chance to pull away from him if she wanted to. She snuggled even closer to him. “Ji Hyo?”

“One minute,” she whispered. “I just need one minute.” She was just so mentally tired.

He pulled her tightly into his chest, resting his chin on top of her head. “I’m sorry my manager is such a piece of .” He felt her shake her head against him.

“I’m sorry I can’t give you what you want.”

“And what is it you think I want?”

“A clear ‘yes’ and ‘no’ about whether I have feelings for you.”

Jong Kook stepped back and put one hand on Ji Hyo’s chin, tilting it up so she was looking at him. “That’s not what I want.” He didn’t let Ji Hyo say anything. “I told you earlier—all I want is whatever it is you can give to me; nothing more, nothing less.”

“Oppa…” she trailed off. Her eyes were fixated on Jong Kook’s lips. Subconsciously, she her lower lip.

The movement didn’t escape Jong Kook’s eyes. He couldn’t tear his eyes off the slow movement of Ji Hyo’s wet tongue swiping her lip; his breath hitched as he remembered how the same tongue had felt against his own just a few nights ago. Gently, very agonizingly slowly, Jong Kook lowered his head, unable to resist the temptation.

Ji Hyo was mesmerized; she held her breath in anticipation, knowing what would happen next. As their lips became closer and their breaths mingled, Ji Hyo closed her eyes, waiting.

Their third kiss was magical. Their lips moved in sync, like they’d been doing this for years—like they knew how to heighten each other’s pleasure just by adding a little pressure here, a there, and a little tugging of teeth on the lips.

Ji Hyo was so hot in his arms, and Jong Kook had forgone hugging her; he was cupping her face and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. When Ji Hyo’s hand crept to the back of his head and pulled it down to deepen their kiss, Jong Kook knew he was done for. He closed his eyes. Nothing else mattered but the feel of the pliant lips under his, the ragged breath and the hot moans from the woman in his arms.

“Ji Hyo-yah, they’re starting soo—… Oh my God!” Sun Mi slammed the door close.

They sprang apart immediately, both looking dazed and was breathing hard. Neither was able to speak for a moment. There was lipstick on Jong Kook’s lips, and Ji Hyo’s looked swollen. Trembling (for a different reason this time), Ji Hyo raised her fingers to wipe the lipstick stain off Jong Kook.

He kissed the fingertips, sending tingles to Ji Hyo’s core. “Stop it,” she chided shakily, “We don’t have time for this.”

Jong Kook winked. “Later then,” he whispered. He Ji Hyo’s cheek and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Sorry I kissed you again—I couldn’t resist myself.”

“I kissed you back, remember?”

“Are you guys done?!” Sun Mi called out from outside the room. She sounded really anxious.

Jong Kook pulled Ji Hyo into one last hug. “I love you,” he said. “Don’t worry about not loving me back.” With that, he left the room.

Ji Hyo heard him apologizing to her manager before taking leave. She was still unable to move; it felt like she was floating right now. She turned her head when Sun Mi entered the room with a disapproving look.

“What do you think you’re doing? First, you told me you’re ending your contract with CJES. Now this. Do you realize that you’re playing with fire?”

Ji Hyo said nothing at first, only offering the older woman she’d come to see as her own sister a sad smile. “Well, then, if I’m to burn in the end, perhaps it’s time for me to get used to the heat, isn’t it?”

A/N: Over 3500 words! And didn't I just post yesterday? I need help.