Ji Hyo walked into Kwang Soo’s minimalist apartment followed by Joong Ki who was closing the door behind them. They needed to pass a small hallway before they could reach the living room which was located in the center of the room. From where she stood, Ji Hyo could see Kwang Soo, Suk Jin, Jae Suk, Haha, and Gary were already gathered.

Partying without Jong Kook meant they could eat anything. There was no need of worrying about health now since the commander wasn’t around. If he was there, he wouldn’t hesitate to scold all of them about drinking too much soju or eating too much calories.

The 6 running man members plus an ex-member sat on the floor, surrounding a table full of junk food on it. They chatted about random things, but mostly about Joong Ki.

“Joong Ki-ah, so how’s your love life? Have you met the one?” Haha emphasized some words in his sentence. He really wanted to know was there any change in Joong Ki’s life.

“Unfortunately no.” He blushed when he hesitantly answered the question. The shy smile he showed everybody was just beautiful as always, but this time it showed some pain. Instantly all of them stopped joking around and showed some sympathy to him. However, Joong Ki wasn’t the kind of guy who liked to be the center of the attention. He tried to change the topic right away.

“Yah hyung I was busy with shootings and all. How can I be in a relationship?! Hahahha… What about you, noona? Are you dating someone at the moment?” Joong Ki chuckled, trying to break the ice. He didn’t have any clue that Ji Hyo was dating Jong Kook since he had not much time to follow his friends’ lives.

The whole room was filled with EEEEEYY sounds right after Joong Ki threw the question to Ji Hyo. They all looking at Ji Hyo’s direction, waiting for her answer, although erveryone—except Joong Ki—knew about spartace couple going out together for real. Joong Ki could only look at the other members’ faces, looking for a hint. He was really surprised to see their action.

“Joong Ki-ah, Ji Hyo is currently going out with Jong Kook!!” Suk Jin said with a loud voice, making all the members laughed except Ji Hyo and Joong Ki. The only woman in the room was embarrassed to death. She wasn’t used to that kind of attention. She just sat there smiling shyly, afraid of making any eye contact with all of them.

Joong Ki noticed that. He could only stare at his noona silently. His mind was still trying to catch up with the news.

Ji Hyo noona… Jong Kook hyung… Did I hear Suk Jin hyung’s words correctly? After all these years… They—they… they are together now??? Joong Ki could only brace himself. He let out a small smile, not wanting any of them to notice his weird reaction. Jong Kook hyung didn’t even tell me a few days ago when we met.

“Ji Hyo noona, I’m sorry I kissed you back then!!!”

Joong Ki tried to speed up his steps as he ran toward Ji Hyo who was heading to her van in the parking lot. They were just finished Running Man filming and Ji Hyo couldn’t wait any longer to go back to her place. It was a really tiring day for her although she admitted she enjoyed the filming very much. She liked train station a lot and always dreamt of filming at it. Luckily, running man PDs made her dream came true that day.

“Joong Ki-ah, it’s fine. It’s just for the sake of winning the game. I would also do that if I were you. Good job anyway!!” When she heard Joong Ki called her, she turned her head to look at him and smiled. She slowed down her steps to allow Joong Ki to walk beside her. The van was just a few meters away from them and the young man knew it was his only chance to tell his noona something. However, he swallowed hard and kept the words to himself.

“Okay noona, have a safe trip. See you next week!” He gave her a big hug and ran back to the filming set. He turned his head once to smile at her and waved. Ignoring the wave, Ji Hyo walked into her van and greeted her manager. Joong Ki observed her from afar as Ji Hyo’s van left the set.

Kissing you on a train…. I never ever dream of it. Not even once in my life I dare to dream about pressing my lips against your cheek noona. But I have to confess I lately dreamt about you a lot. Yesterday was the fifth time. In my dream I saw you laughing beautifully. You told me you wish I was yours.

Joong Ki touched his own lips with his fingers. He still could feel Ji Hyo’s warm cheek. The kiss was heartwarming for him. Well, he had kissed a lot of actresses before, in lips. But this one—even if it was just on cheek—it felt different. The moment he did that, he felt like he would fly away to the highest layer of the sky. He felt like fire was burning inside of him. He felt like he was in love.

“Yah Joong Ki-ah, you were so brave back then!” Someone patted his shoulder very gently, but still it surprised him. The thoughts of Ji Hyo was scattered all over the place and he decided to clear them all for now. Reluctantly he turned his head to face the older man behind him.

“Ah Jong Kook hyung…. It was nothing.” He let out a flash of smile.

Jong Kook noticed that the Joong Ki standing in front of him right now was not the usual Joong Ki. He patted his shoulder again and asked him whether he was okay or not.

“I’m fine hyung, nothing’s wrong.” He smile again, but this time was longer than the first one.

But this time Jong Kook recognized something. Joong Ki’s smile was a painful one. However, the smile wasn’t the one that made Jong Kook thought there was something wrong with his dongsaeng. The wrong thing was how Joong Ki couldn’t manage to fake the smile perfectly. He was a good actor and Jong Kook knew it well. He knew Joong Ki would successfully fake the smile if he wanted to.

“Your fake smile… I know it. You didn’t hide it perfectly. You wanted me to notice it, Joong Ki-ah.” Jong Kook smiled, ready to listen to all his dongsaeng’s problem.

“Hyung you know me best.”

That night, Joong Ki stayed at Jong Kook’s place. They talked all night and Joong Ki told him about everything. About how he fell for this woman, how this woman didn’t seem to be interested with him, how he tried his best to attract her, and how desperate he was to get her. But he didn’t mention the name to Jong Kook. Not a single name or hint.

Ji Hyo noona, how I wish you can hear me now. How I wish you know my feelings…

“Joong Ki-ah bring me more soju!!!!” Jae Suk shouted uncontrollably. Joong Ki knew his hyung was definitely drunk at the moment. He himself was getting drunk too and he just realized that. He immediately stopped drinking from the bottle of soju in his hand.

They had been partying for 2 hours now and the only one who wasn’t drunk was Ji Hyo. Joong Ki personally couldn’t believe that Ji Hyo wasn’t drunk, since she was actually the person who loved soju the most. Being completely conscious, he ignored Joong Kook and moved closer to where Ji Hyo was sitting.

“Noona, how’s Jong Kook hyung?” He asked casually.

Ji Hyo who was texting someone with her phone looked up to face her dongsaeng. It was a standard question that someone would ask if he/she was bored. She was absolutely uncomfortable with the question since she didn’t know what to answer.

“Umm… fine…” She answered awkwardly.

For a second they just stared at each other not knowing what to say and what to do. The situation around them was chaos, but the condition between both of them were just… silence.

“Umm.. so… who picked you up?” Joong Ki once again tried to start the conversation. They used to be so close to one another. None of them thought seeing each other after a long time would be this awkward. Time did affect their behavior after all.

“I came with Jae Suk oppa with his car, but considering his condition right now I rather take a cab.” She chuckled as she pointed toward Jae Suk direction. But before Joong Ki could respond, she continued, “But well, Jong Kook oppa has finished his business so he can pick me up in around a half hour.”

Somehow Ji Hyo’s answer disappointed Joong Ki. Maybe he still had some feelings toward her. Stop it Song Joong Ki. She’s your hyung’s girlfriend!!!! Unconsciously he shook his head literally. Ji Hyo noticed it and asked him about it.

“What’s wrong? Are you dizzy or something?”

“Ahh no noona, I was just…. umm… shooing the mosquito. Yes… I am shooing a mosquito.” He answered spontaneously only to regret his words a second later. That was a lame excuse!

A/N: Okay please give me merci for not updating in quite a long time. However, please give me some motivations to write a new chapter by commenting on this chapter! I love comments and I love Joong Ki! But I love spartace more! Mwwahahhaha!!!

Okay I'm so random...

P.s. I hope you understand that the gray written text is the flashback