Ji Hyo raised her eyebrows when she heard Joong Ki’s answer. But she didn’t take it seriously because she was aware of Joong Ki’s condition. He was a little bit drunk and she knew drunken people liked to say weird things.

“Please just ignore my answer.” Joong Ki smiled in embarrassment. He sat closer to his noona and settled his back on the wall.

“Don’t worry about that Joong Ki-ah.” The girl beside him chuckled. They stayed awkward like that for awhile. But then Joong Ki tried to change the topic.

“Noona, have a drink.” He reached for a bottle of soju a meter away from him and handed it to her. But Ji Hyo politely said no to the offer. It was actually a quite rare case. It was even worth headline news, Song Ji Hyo Resisting Soju. That would obviously be the most shocking news for the running man family. Who on earth didn’t know how much Ji Hyo liked soju.

Joong Ki was surprised. She wasn’t usually like that.

“Are you sick or something?” He asked.

“Nope.” Ji Hyo said in a playful tone and shook her head animatedly. “Guess again!!” Although it was kinda dramatic, Joong Ki thought he saw sparks in Ji Hyo’s beautiful eyes.

Suddenly an idea appeared in his mind. She doesn’t drink. Her face lights up. Her eyes are sparkling. She seems happy. She’s in a relationship right now. The thoughts came fast into his brain. He wasn’t able to catch up with his own assumptions. It felt like the sentences were flying fast through the air. He could feel them passing through his body, creating a big hole on his heart.  This can’t be…. This can’t be this can’t be this can’t be!! He repeated the words continuously until he realized he was unable to move. He was freezing in front of Ji Hyo.

“Joong Ki-ah, what’s wrong?”

Hearing that voice made him changed his behavior. Even if his assumption was right, he had to act strong in front of her. He had to pretend to be happy. Slowly he swallowed deeply, trying to find his voice hiding down his throat.

“You’re pregnant.” There was silence before Joong Ki could manage to let out a smile.

He hoped she was going to laugh at him. He wished she would only think that as a joke. But she didn’t. She smiled widely at him, giving him that look.

“Congratulations noona.” He hadn’t lost the smile he made earlier. If his mind was distracted for just a flash of second, he swore he would never been able to act that great.

That pain was invading her heart right now. The pain of losing hope and still have to pretend like nothing happened. He knew sooner or later a wedding bell would ring. A part of Joong Ki’s mind imagined a picture of Ji Hyo in a white dress walking down the aisle. Too bad the future husband was not himself, but his hyung.

When he got back to the real world, he noticed Ji Hyo’s happy expression had turned into a confused one.

“What’s wrong with your smile Joong Ki-ah? You don’t look comfortable.”

“Ah it’s not like that noona. I was just thinking, am I the first person to know that? Because I clearly am not good at keeping secrets and making surprises.” That was a big big lie.

Joong Ki was waiting for a serious answer when Ji Hyo burst into laughter. She laughed so hard that her stomach hurt.

“Joong Ki-ah, you really believe in that huge lie?” She continued laughing, leaving her dongsaeng confused. “Of course I’m not pregnant. It turns out my acting skill is still better than yours!” She stopped for a single cough because she laughed too much. “I mean—hahaha—you really need to see your own face when you congratulate me!! That was hilarious!”

After realizing that he was being fooled, Joong Ki forced a failed laughter. He was really relieved but somehow was mad too. That wasn’t a funny joke to him.

“Noona that wasn’t funny at all. I thought you’re gonna marry Jong Kook hyung soon…” Joong Ki said it with a really reluctant tone, making it felt like marrying Jong Kook would be a wrong decision. Damn it, I really should have not said it like that. That sounded pretty rude. Suddenly Ji Hyo stopped laughing and looked down. The flower boy thought she was mad because of his words, but luckily Ji Hyo didn’t notice the bad attitude Joong Ki was showing.

“Do you want to know the real reason?” Sadly she let out a really small voice, making it sounded like a whisper. That really changed the atmosphere between the two. Feeling a little bit drowned to Ji Hyo’s sadness, Joong Ki only nodded a bit.

“I didn’t drink because I don’t trust Jong Kook oppa. I was worried he wouldn’t be able pick me up so I have to drive myself or take a cab—you  know taxi drivers these days are quite dangerous. I have to keep myself conscious—To be honest I am still worried about that though. I’m worried that a few minutes from now he’ll tell me he can’t stop by.” She stopped and brushed her hair back with her fingers, showing frustration in her eyes. “These few days were hard for us and I started to doubt our relationship.”  

Joong Ki swallowed hard. He didn’t know how to act. If Ji Hyo and Jong Kook break up, it meant he had an opportunity to date Ji Hyo. But that was an evil thought. He wanted his hyung and noona to be together. He wanted them to be happy too.

Ji Hyo lifted up her head and looked straight to Joong Ki’s eyes, making his heart raced faster. “Do you think I’m wrong for having a doubt on him?” She asked desperately, waiting for Joong Ki’s answer. It took a few seconds for the younger man to answer. What should I say? What should I say?? Yah noona, I’m going to die because of heart attack if you keep on asking me these questions!

“Well…” Again he swallowed hard. “I personally don’t think you’re wrong.” He stopped again and placed his hands under his chin. From his gesture, Ji Hyo noticed he was thinking hard. “You see, in a relationship there are ups and downs. Maybe this is just one of the downs.”

“What if there will be no ups anymore? What if we keep on falling down and break ourselves?” She frowned and closed her eyes in pain.

I can’t take it anymore. It’s killing me seeing her like this. It doesn’t matter who she’ll marry. It doesn’t matter who’s the guy she likes. I just want her to be happy. Jong Kook hyung, you really have to take care of this tough woman for me. This time, it was Joong Ki who brushed his hair back with his hand in frustration. If he had the courage to, he would hug his noona tightly and never let go.

“If you break, I’ll try to fix you. I’ll be there for you noona. I’ll always be there.” Slowly he took Ji Hyo’s hand in his and held it tightly. However, there was no response from Ji Hyo. She used her other hand to give her forehead a light massage. “Thank you Joong Ki-ah.” That was the only words she said from . She didn’t even smile or share an eye contact with her dongsaeng. Her mind was everywhere else. Never came to her mind that Joong Ki loved her. Never came to her mind that Joong Ki was hurt too.

“I need to go. He’ll be here maybe just in a few minutes.” She said as she looked at the watch and let out a small forced smile.

Joong Ki let go of her hand and smiled too. “Bye noona.”

That was somehow a difficult word for him to say. He felt his blood rushed to his head as Ji Hyo stood up to leave him. How he wished he could say saranghae out loud in front of her. But the thought about Jong Kook’s feeling held him from saying so.

The night was cold. Colder than usual. Ji Hyo brought her arms closer to her body, trying to keep herself warm. She kept staring vacantly at the passing cars in front of her. The car light and the engine sound made her want to close her eyes and ears tightly. She looked up, staring at tall buildings surrounding her. I miss the rain… I miss the time when we kissed that afternoon. It was cold but I felt warm. We were close and I was in your arm. Oppa… how I wish we could go back to that small town.

She looked back to the street. There was no sign of Jong Kook’s arrival. She had been standing in front of the apartment building like that since a half hour. She had tried to call Jong Kook’s number but no one answered it. She wanted to go back to Kwang Soo’s warm room, but she just wanted to be alone. So there she was, standing still alone.

Her legs were shivering and she hardly felt the tip of her fingers. Jong Kook oppa, when will you arrive? She reached her phone to try to call Jong Kook again, but something stopped her from doing so. A group of 4 men was walking toward her. Judging from their looks, they weren’t nice and they were drunk. Ji Hyo knew well what that might lead to so she quickly took a step back, wanting to go back into the apartment building.  But she didn’t move fast enough. The building entrance was about 20 meters away from where she stood. Out of nowhere, the eldest one in the group grabbed her hand tightly and chuckled.

“Pretty lady, where are you going?” He said with his low voice.

That is a really cliché line. A thought came into her mind right after the man spoke. That was quite funny for her, but in that kind of situation, the funniest situation wasn’t funny at all. They might look like they were just playing around after drinking a few bottles of soju, but they were still dangerous. Luckily Ji Hyo was aware of the danger. She tried to scream for help. One time, two times, three times…. No one heard her. Mainly because there was no one near.

“Yah, a tough lady.” They men chuckled again.

Another cliché line. She thought as she remembered a scene from a movie she once played in. But in the movie, a prince-like guy helped her. In reality, her Jong Kook didn’t appear. Aware of the bad luck, Ji Hyo tried to kick and hit the men, but her energy was far below the men’s. The harder she fought, the harsher the men treated her. Ji Hyo started to panic even more because no one witnessed the scene. If no one found her, she might end up dead on the street in the next morning.

Jong Kook oppa…. There is no one near. There is no possibility I can win from this guys. I wish I have a sixth sense. I wish I have the ability to tell you that I’m in danger. Oppa… Safe me… The image of Jong Kook kept appearing in front of her. It was her biggest fear, having to leave Jong Kook. Even if she doubted him, she loved him more than she could ever imagine. That’s it, I can do no more. Jong Kook oppa, mianhe for giving up. She slowly lessened her punch as she lost hope.

“Let her go.” A voice filled the air with tension. Ji Hyo could smell fear in the men’s eyes.

Oppa? Jong Kook oppa? The question stayed inside her mind. She felt like she had lost her voice. Never came to her imagination that her life would be this dramatic. But as long as it stayed good like that she didn’t mind. She turned her body to see the source of the voice but she couldn’t see anything. One of the drunken men’s heads was covering up the person’s face. Fortunately the man backed off and started to run away. So did the other men. They were all running away from this particular person.

Ji Hyo stood in disbelief as she looked at the person from head to toe. There was disappointment in her eyes.