Jong Kook was still lying on his bed lazily. He wasn’t usually like this, but what happened the night before made him want to disappear into the soft comfortable blanket. How he wished he could spend his whole life married to the pillow.

He couldn’t help but memorizing what Joong Ki said to him at the parking lot. He wasn’t mad at the young man, but he also couldn’t say that their friendship was okay. Everything fell apart in front of him. He had nobody to blame and that tortured him even more. He used to say that it was love that made life looked hard, but he started to think twice about it. Perhaps people are right, life made love looked hard, not the other way around.

He tried to reach for his phone, wondering what time it was. Murmuring ‘huh’ in disbelief, he got out from the blanket then hesitated. Reluctantly he tucked himself in again, deciding that he wanted to stay on the bed much longer than usual.

Again the atmosphere of last night’s conversation with Joong Ki haunted his mind. There was no way he could let it go so easily, especially after having such a talk with his best friend. Jong Kook ran his hand through his hair, a gesture he always had when he was frustrated. Slowly he faded back to the night before, recalling what happened after the quick kiss.

Jong Kook couldn’t believe what his eyes were telling him. He didn’t know why, but Joong Ki always appeared in the wrong time. Right after he kissed Eun Hye on her cheek, he saw Joong Ki standing on the hallway looking at him confusedly. The elevator doors were just about to close when Joong Ki quickly ran towards them. Hesitantly Jong Kook held the door for him.

“Eun Hye noona, why are you leaving so quickly? It’s not even 8.00 yet.” Politely he bowed and walked into the elevator.

It was obvious that Eun Hye felt awkward with Joong Ki after the younger actor saw her being kissed by Jong Kook. She didn’t know why Joong Ki and Jong Kook acted like nothing happened though.

“She doesn’t feel well.” Jong Kook answered the question that was not directed to him. Impatiently he pushed the elevator button, taking them all to the lobby. Trapped in an uncomfortable situation, they all stood in silence until the elevator stopped.

“Well, I’ll be going now. Thank you for the dinner.” Eun Hye smiled awkwardly at them.

“It’s nothing noona. I’ll see you next week.” Joong Ki smiled back, pretending everything was completely right although it was totally not. On the other hand, Jong Kook only nodded as if he wanted her to go away as soon as possible.

They both watched Eun Hye rushed outside and went into a cab. Soon after the cab disappeared from their sight, Joong Ki walked to the parking lot in front of the apartment building. He didn’t say anything to Jong Kook but the hyung followed him right away. They both knew they needed to talk sooner or later, so why delaying it?

There was nobody else at the parking lot. It was dark and cold there, no one wanted to be in a place like that anyway. It looked like a right spot for having an illegal transaction. Well in this case, Jong Kook and Joong Ki was going to have an illegal conversation—or to be more precise, they were going to commit crimes against their desires.

“Hyung…. About the thing you heard. You know, my confession…. I—I was a total jerk. I... mianhe.” Joong Ki stuttered, not being able to arrange his words perfectly. But he managed to control his breathing and continued with something more long this time, “I know I should’ve been more sensitive about everything that was going on between you two. I should’ve waited longer. Now I hurt noona’s feeling and yours too. Hyung I’m really sorry for what I did.”

Jong Kook couldn’t believe what he heard. He thought Joong Ki was going to say something about the kiss he gave Eun Hye. He didn’t expect to receive an apology from him. He didn’t deserve the apology since Joong Ki didn’t do anything wrong.

“I thought you were going to say something about the kiss, Joong Ki-yah.”

“What? No, it isn’t my business. Besides, the kiss means nothing to you anyway, hyung. Your lips were on her cheek but I bet your mind wasn’t even there.”

Jong Kook was startled to hear what his dongsaeng just said. He thought Joong Ki would misunderstand everything but he was wrong. Joong Ki-yah knows me too well.

“Well actually I’ve created this script inside my head. I was going to punch you so hard for kissing Eun Hye noona. But then after thinking about it thoroughly, I know you can’t think clearly when you are frustrated. I know you to well hyung. You become stupid when you’re depressed.”

 “Yah!!” Jong Kook almost scolded his dongsaeng but the he realized that Joong Ki had a point. He often did stupid things without thinking—which dragged him into lots of troubles—before. He sighed before continuing, “Forget about that. I should be the one who apologies. I didn’t know that you love Ji Hyo. If I knew that sooner, I wouldn’t date her in the first place. I’m a bad hyung for not knowing who you love although you’ve given me so many clues back then. Mianhe Joong Ki-yah.”

“Hyung.... You make me feel even worse.” He swallowed hard.

“No no no, don’t feel bad! Look, Ji Hyo’s not mine anymore. She was treated badly when she’s with me, so please take care of her.”

Everything that made Jong Kook worried before suddenly disappeared. He thought it would be hard for him to say that to Joong Ki. He had even thought about asking Ji Hyo to get back with him before, but seeing the younger man in front of him made the commander’s heart soften. Joong Ki had always been there for him and he had always been there for Ji Hyo too. If there was a man-other than him- in the world to marry Ji Hyo, that person would certainly be Joong Ki.

“Hyung, don’t say that.” Instead of being happy, Joong Ki looked sad and desperate. “She doesn’t love me. She only loves you and that is the fact. You heard everything right? All the things she misses about you?”

“Yah you’re so naïve. I’ve given you my blessing, what holds you back now?”

“It’s her decision, not ours. She never loves me hyung.”

All Jong Kook could remember about that night was how he encouraged Joong Ki to have a bit of confidence. After the conversation, Joong Ki went back to Kwang Soo’s and Jong Kook went back home with mixed feeling inside his head.

Damn it, I shouldn’t have said that. Now I’m stumbling in my own words. Jong Kook scratched the back of his head in frustration. Realizing that his love for Ji Hyo had not lessened yet, he regretted his decision to give her away to Joong Ki. Now he was stuck in an uncomfortable position. There was no way he could give up on loving Ji Hyo, yet he knew he couldn’t take it to see her with another person.

Still lying helplessly on the bed, he tried to reach his phone on the small table next to him. No message and no call. He started to think that he had no friends on the earth—although it was just a stupid thought of his. Right when he was just about to put it back on the table, the phone vibrated. He knew from the caller ID that it was his father who was on the line.

“Yeoboseyo appa.”

“My ahdeul! Do you forget that it’s your eomma’s birthday?” Instead of answering him with a proper greeting, his appa yelled right to his ear.

“What?!” Jong Kook quickly sat on his band and took a look at the calendar. Harshly he hit his head with his own hand and let out a small ‘ouch’ after knowing it hurt.

“Yah, you really forget, do you?” The older Kim sounded irritating.

“It’s hard to admit it, but yes I do forget appa. I’ll call her later, okay? Please don’t say anything about this. I totally forgot it.”

“Call her? She’s expecting to see you today. She told me you promised to visit us on her birthday.”

“Damn it! What’s wrong with my brain!!” Without thinking much he stood up and rushed toward the bathroom.

“Yah, watch what you’re saying, ahdeul.”

“Ya ya… Okay I’ll be there in a few hours appa.”

“Wait, don’t forget to bring Ji Hyo-yah! She’s really expecting to see her.”

“Ji Hyo-yah?” Jong Kook was surprised to hear the name being called by his appa. He forgot to tell his parents that they had broken up. Well honestly, he kept it as a secret on purpose. Everytime his parents talked about Ji Hyo, they seemed really happy so Jong Kook didn’t have the courage to tell them their relationship was over.

“Don’t disappoint your eomma, ahdeul. See you soon!” His appa hung up the phone without even giving Jong Kook any chance to say goodbye.

Reluctantly he sat on the edge of the bathtub, staring vacantly on his phone. Now what? He asked himself and ended up scratching the back of his head again. He knew there were only two ways to solve the problem: telling his parents the truth or asking Ji Hyo for a favor. In the end, Jong Kook could only wash his face with cold water, accepting the fact that his stupidity was unforgivable.

After spending a few minutes thinking in the shower, he finally found out what to do next. Jong Kook did not know how he ended up with that conclusion, however he still took it as his last decision.

Hesitantly he called the number he had been staring at for at least 5 minutes. He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but it wasn’t wrong to try too. She probably wouldn’t answer it anyway, he thought innocently. Waiting for the phone call to be picked up, he tried to convince himself that his eomma would be really happy to see him and Ji Hyo together. I’m 100% sure that I won’t regret my decision after seeing eomma’s smile. But I’m also sure that she won’t pick up. She definitely won’t pick up.

Kwang Soo was taken aback by Ji Hyo’s last sentence. He repeated it inside his mind, noona said,”what if I’m not planning to break his heart?” then doesn’t it mean that she’s planning to love Joong Ki back? That’s exactly the opposite of what I was telling her to do! Yah this noona is just too stubborn. She’ll break Joong Ki’s heart to billions of pieces if she ends up loving someone else. Everyone knows there’s still something going on between Jong Kook hyung and her.

Without realizing, Kwang Soo was spacing out and that made Ji Hyo curious. She knew that she was going to risk so many things to actualize her decision, but she didn’t want to break Joong Ki’s heart by turning him down. She wanted to be there for him too. She wanted to pay the debt that could never be paid off. All this time she never realize that she had taken him for granted.

“Kwang Soo-yah? What’s in your mind?”

“Noona, I know it’s a secret but I can’t keep my mouth shut. Just don’t tell Joong Ki that I tell you this, okay?” He was suddenly serious, keeping his voice as low as possible, worried that someone might hear.

“Yah, there’re only the two of us in this room, you can speak louder.”

“Ah, sorry.” He blurted out a spontaneous apology after noticing that how close he was to his noona when he tried to whisper it to her. He kept out a distance and spoke in a normal voice, although he unconsciously spoke smaller as the sentence goes. “Jong Kook hyung heard your conversation with Joong Ki and he even saw the kiss and his confession.”

There was a big question mark written on Ji Hyo’s expression. Kwang Soo could see it well, but he was distracted by her eyes that showed so much more than confusion. There was fear there. Fear of… something. He couldn’t tell just by staring at her.

Suddenly Ji Hyo’s phone rang. She took it out from her pocket immediately only to find herself paralyzed after seeing the caller ID. She was afraid to pick it up but somehow she was also eager to know what the phone call was about. Reluctantly she turned her gaze to Kwang Soo as if she was asking for his help.

“It’s Jong Kook oppa, should I answer?” She asked him nervously. Being as nervous as Ji Hyo, Kwang Soo nodded his head in agreement. He swallowed hard, indicating his incertitude.

“Yah you’re not convincing enough! I’m not going to pick up!” She gave her phone to the giraffe and looked away to avoid his confused-looking face.

“Yah noona, don’t do this!!!” He held the phone like it was something disgusting and threw it back to Ji Hyo. Coincidentally Ji Hyo pressed the screen with her fingers when she tried to catch it from Kwang Soo’s throw. Then suddenly a voice came out. She swore to God it was the twentieth second to fallout. This is a disaster, she said to herself as she held her breath back.

A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR guys! Well this is not something I've planned for your new year's present. I left last chapter with too many complications to resolve so I wasn't able to create something so spartace in this one. But I'll update it before today becomes tomorrow, so hopefully you'll still get your present on time. Happy 1st of January!!