What happened before:

Ji Hyo finally broke up with Jong Kook for real. Running Man was going to hold a special episode at Saneum Recreational Forest and that made Joong Ki felt nervous because of a bad memory he had in a forest a long time ago.

Joong Ki woke up in a very uncomfortable position. He didn’t remember the rest of the dream but he was sure he knew how it ended. It wasn’t a good dream and he wasn’t surprised about it. He used to have the similar dream when he was younger.

14^th of July…. It was the day she died.

That surely answered the whole thing. The loneliness, the emptiness, the bad feeling he had lately. Now he understood why he was so worried about the next filming place. It brought back those awful memories that he just couldn’t erase no matter how hard he tried to.

Lying helplessly on the bed, Joong Ki started to feel the fear and sadness creapt into his mind. The young man cried at the fact that he was the one to blame for his sister’s accident.

Mianhe.

Joong Ki reluctantly got up from his bed. His past kept on spinning in his head making him nervous. That wasn’t the first time he experienced that kind of dream, but he still didn’t feel alright about it. It wasn’t something that he could let go so easily.

The dream was about his younger sister who died when he was just a boy. One morning their family went to a recreational forest and stayed there for the weekend. When their parents were busy setting tents for them to sleep in, they walked around the forest. Joong Ki never thought what he did would cause such a great danger for his little sister. He remembered clearly the little girl had told him not to go too far but he didn’t listen. Who knew she would trip and fall into a river.

That was a really scary experience for him. For a little boy, seeing his own sister fell into the deep water could be very traumatic. He tried to reach his sister’s hand and called up for help but nothing happened. No one came to help them. No one was close enough to hear his scream.

He never thought he would forget the date, but it turned out he forgot it. It never came across his mind that that day was the date of his sister’s death memorial day. Guiltily he reached out for his phone, trying to call his parents, but nobody answered the phone. He called again, feeling quite under pressure, worrying his parents were mad at him for forgetting the date. It made no difference, no one answered the call.

Looking out the window, he saw the sky was as dark as his feeling at that time. It was already 9 p.m. but nothing could stop him from driving to his sister’s grave. He grabbed his coat and left the hotel as soon as possible. However soon after he reached his car on the basement, he remembered he was in Seoul and there’s no way he could drive to his sister’s grave which was located hundreds of kilometers away from there. It was too risky to drive at that hour.

Feeling terrible as ever, he went into his car, hoping that seeing his hyung would change his mood a little bit. The one and only hyung he trusted, Jong Kook hyung. Without calling him first, Joong Ki drove to his house. He knew there might be a possibility that Jong Kook wasn’t at home at that time, but he didn’t care about that. He could go somewhere else if Jong Kook wasn’t there anyway.

As soon as he arrived in front of his hyung’s place, he got out of the car and rang the bell. One minute.. two minutes… but no one came out. He rang it again and again. He became desperate and rang it even faster. He almost gave up and headed back to the hotel when someone opened the door after the fifteenth annoying ringing sound of the bell. Jong Kook came out with his wet hair. It seemed like he just finished taking a shower.

“Yaah, do you really have to ring the bell like a hundred times??” He raised his voice before seeing clearly who the visitor is.  

“Annyeong hyung. Sorry for the bell, I was really desperate” Joong Ki could only give his hyung a big smile and an apology for being annoying. He rarely acted like that.

“Ah, annyeong Joong Ki-ah. Come on in. Are you drunk? You acted like Gwang Soo. He’s the only one who rings the bell that much.” Jong Kook was a bit surprised. His calm junior didn’t act like that usually.

“No I didn’t drink, not even a glass of beer. Like I said, I was just impatient and desperate. I thought you weren’t at home. Is it wrong for me to be annoying sometimes, hyung?” Jokingly he laughed.

“Hahaha, at least you’re still less annoying than the giraffe.”

Although Jong Kook was puzzled with Joong Ki’s sudden visit, he still greeted him warmly. That was what Joong Ki liked from Jong Kook. His hyung never acted cold no matter what. The young man followed Jong Kook to the living room and soon both of them were sitting across each other on a comfortable couch.

“So what brings you here Joong Ki-ah?”

“Nothing, I woke up at my room feeling kinda lonely so I came here. Oh, are you busy or something?” He realized he might have bothered his hyung by coming there in a sudden. He didn’t think about it earlier.

“Relax, I was just doing nothing. Hahaha. Calm down, Joong Ki-ah.”

“Good then.” Joong Ki smiled and then there was a long silence before Jong Kook finally said something again.

“You can tell me the truth, you know. You don’t have to keep it to yourself. I know there’s something wrong with you and it’s not just about being lonely in your hotel room.”

Damn it! Joong Ki said to himself. He forgot that his hyung knew him more than anybody else. Of course he knows there’s something wrong going on with me. Again he talked to his own self before answering Jong Kook.

“Hyung, I know you know about the incidence I had when I was a kid. Something about my sister and all…” Joong Ki’s voice was slowly fading. He felt uncomfortable about mentioning his sister and the entire thing.

“Yeah I know it. I thought you were completely over it Joong Ki-ah.”

“I thought so too, but after knowing where the next running man episode will be hold, I’m not sure anymore. I feel fear and guilt and nervous, and… I just realized that today was 14^th of July, the day she died. I didn’t go to her grave like I used to and eomma didn’t call me either.”

“Are you okay? I mean, we can ask the PDs to change the whole concept if it affected you so much. They’ll understand.” Jong Kook took his phone from his pocket, ready to call one of the PDs. He knew Joong Ki would stop him sooner or later, but it was worth trying. He couldn’t help seeing the younger man suffered like that.

“No, no, hyung you don’t have to do that. I just need some time to calm myself down.”

“Are you sure? Tell me what else is bothering you”

“I was glad that I didn’t think much about her death lately, but forgetting coming to her grave makes me feel not right too. I want to get over it without erasing her from my memory.”

“Relax Joong Ki-ah, it’s really common to forget dates and numbers. Probably you were really tired or something. You need to rest your brain.”

For a moment Joong Ki sat still in silence. He tried to convince himself that Jong Kook was right, even though he doubt it. But at least that could calm him down.

“Perhaps you’re right hyung. I’m totally overreacting. I should go back to my place now, it’s getting really late.” He gave his hyung a big smile.

“Joong Ki-ah, you can spend your night here. Tomorrow we’ll be having a meeting at the PDs’ office at 7, right? I want you to have enough sleep so don’t waste your time driving back to your cold hotel room.”

“Are you fine with that hyung?”

“Of course! Don’t be silly. I can’t let you spend the whole night feeling lonely at the hotel. This is what friends are for. I’ll prepare the guest room for you.”

 That night Joong Ki didn’t feel lonely. He was very grateful to have a hyung like Jong Kook.

A/N: sorry for the really late update. I am really busy at this current moment and I wont be able to post another chapter until at least a month from now. as always, I'm really sorry for all grammatical mistakes and everything. Hope you enjoy this :)