It was late at night and Jong Kook was not able to sleep well with his painful back. Earlier this afternoon, after parting with Ji Hyo, he visited the gym and accidentally injured his back. He had no one to blame but himself as his focus was not there. His mind had been preoccupied by Ji Hyo. The thought of her trying to hold back her tears and avoiding his explanation as they speak just now killed him a little inside.

As he was about to fall asleep, a sudden phone came and it was someone he would never expect to receive a phone call from. “Ji Hyo-sii.” He answered the phone.

 “Yah. Kim Jong Kook.” Ji Hyo sound like she was completely drunk. “I think I missed you….. Do you remember the first day we met?.... You were so drunk…”

“Ji Hyo-sii, are you alright? Where are you?” Jong Kook could hear the surrounding and deduced that Ji Hyo in currently in a club.

“I’m drinking…. Hahahaha…. I remember how you laughed and told me how cute I was….” Ji Hyo was incoherent when speaking and Jong Kook could not understand half of what she was saying as the background sound of the Ji Hyo’s phone was too loud.

“Ji Hyo-sii, can you hear me? Do you know what I am saying?”

“Do you miss me Kim Jong Kook?” Ji Hyo asked in a drunk tone.

“Ji Hyo-sii, are you alone? Where are you? Let me come over….” The phone hung up on itself. Jong Kook’s mind began to fill with worries of Ji Hyo. What if she was alone? What if she needed help? Changing to some light clothes, he grabbed his belongings and left the house. Jong Kook was figuring out where she could be and remembered the place where they had a late supper. “There seems to be a club nearby.” Jong Kook thought.

Just as he was wondering, a text message from Ji Hyo came into his phone.

“Kim Jong Kook-sii. This is Han Ji Min, Ji Hyo’s friend . We are currently at xxx club. JI Hyo Unnie is drunk. Do you mind coming over?”

“I will be right down.” Jong Kook typed. “Just as I expected, the club is near that place.”  Enduring his pain from the back, he quickly rushed to his car and speed off.

________________

Ji Hyo and Ji Min went to the place they used to hang out previously. After Ji Min continuously convincing her, Ji Hyo agreed to go partying with her. She thought she needed this moment to relax and unwind too. She knew that Kwang Soo and Lizzy could manage the café well even without her. Hence, after thinking of the consequences, she decided to let loose herself for today.

They began drinking and dancing at the usual table. The drinks kept coming and so the amount of guys trying to buy them drinks. However, the two girls were capable of protecting themselves well. They avoid all the sleazy guys while enjoying themselves. She was letting herself lose control for tonight. She did noticed Ji Min drinking lesser than usual, but Ji Min mentioned she was trying to cut down the alcohol intake for today since she had drank a lot the day before. It was shots after shots, soju after soju, dance after dance then Ji Hyo began to feel the world was spinning.

Out of the blue, Kim Jong Kook’s image pop into her mind and she felt like hearing his voice. Ignoring the fact that it was late at night, she took out her phone and began to dial his number. Just tonight, Ji Hyo was uncontrollable; she wanted to do whatever she wants.

Ji Min came back with her cup of water that she got from the bar. She saw her Unnie talking on the phone while lying on the sofa, she knew her Unnie had drank too much. She grabbed the phone from Ji Hyo and realized she had called Jong Kook. “Unnie, till now you are still thinking about him…” Ji Min sighed. When she asked her to hit the club, she was prepared to drink lesser to take care of her. She wanted her Unnie to let loose and forget the guy just for tonight. However she realized even till now, her mind was still thinking of him. Without her knowing, she typed a text message using Ji Hyo’s phone.

Ji JHyo was struggling to get back to the dance floor while Ji Min was trying to hold her down. She wanted to dance to the music and forget everything. This time might be the only time she could do anything she wanted without her restraining herself. She knew she was being a nuisance right now, but she did not care. When she finally managed to break free from Ji Min, she saw someone coming towards her. “Yah Kim Jong Kook!” She shouted. “Why are you here?!”

Without answering her, Jong Kook carried her on his back out of the loud surrounding with Ji Min support her on the back to prevent her from falling down. She was struggling madly as they left the club. “What are you doing? Let me go!” The man did not do as she wished so she began to hit him on his back. However, ever after countless of hitting, he still did not let go of her, thus she gave up and just lied on his back reluctantly. With her arms interlocking around his neck, she rested on the man’s back comfortably. In the midst, she seemed to hear a conversation from Jong Kook and Ji Min but she could not understand most of it as she was too drunk.

“Thanks for coming Jong Kook-sii.” Ji Min thanked Jong Kook.

“It’s alright; you are Han Ji Min-sii right?”

“Yes, Kim Jong Kook-sii.” Ji Min began. “I know it sounds weird coming from a stranger but I trust you to send my Unnie back home safely. Even just now, the one she was thinking about is you. You seem like a nice person. Even though I was supposed to send her home, but I think perhaps you might do a better job than me. The person she wanted to see the most now is you. “

“I understand Ji Min-sii. I will send her home safely. Thank you for trusting someone you had met only now. Let me get you home first.” Jong Kook offered.

“It’s alright. My ride is here. I will talk to her tomorrow. Try to convince my Unnie to not kill me tomorrow.” Ji Min gave her playful smile as she walked to another car. “Goodbye Jong Kook-sii.”

As he saw Ji Min left with someone, he turned to see the woman that was on his back. Ji Hyo was resting with interlocking her arms around his neck and placing her head on his left shoulder. “Let me get you home.” Jong Kook said.

“I don’t want to.” JI Hyo pouted. “I want to stay like this.”

JI Hyo sounded like a little girl whining when she was drunk and he made him smile. He seemly had forgotten carrying the woman on his back was putting a lot of strain on his injury.

“Why are you here? I’m not Cheon Seong Im. You don’t have to be concerned for me.” Ji Hyo whined.

“I know you are Song Ji Hyo. And I care for Song Ji Hyo.”  Jong Kook replied.

“Really?” Ji Hyo questioned. “I really like that you are concerned for me Kim Jong Kook. It makes me so happy.” Ji hyo smiled. “But sometimes you made me so sad too…” Ji Hyo sobbed.

The guilt that Jong Kook had for Ji Hyo hit him again. “Ji Hyo-sii…”

“I don’t want you to talk. Please don’t talk. I don’t want to hear something that I don’t want to hear.” Ji Hyo interrupted.  “I mean we are just friends right, but why does my hearts wants a little more than that. My heart wants you to care about me a little more…” Ji Hyo was starting to sound like she was going to cry.

“What if you told me yes that day?” Ji Hyo asked. “It sounds like you were about to say yes. Yes I am concerned for you because you looked like my fiancé.” Ji Hyo’s tears dropped. “Maybe you wanted to say that.”

“No…” Jong Kook uttered.

“I said don’t talk. I want to talk!” Ji Hyo screamed. “This might be the only time I can say everything out just like that.” Deep down in Ji Hyo’s heart, she knows she will regret everything she said tomorrow morning. However, it seems that she could not control herself. The fogginess of the mind had clouded her thinking. She wanted to just vomit every single word that came out of her heart. “Will it be better if I had not asked you about Seong Im? Maybe we will not be in such situation now. We could have been much happier. I won’t feel this way, and you can continue to treat me like how you always do without me overthinking you are treating me as another person. “Ji Hyo burst into tears.

“Why do you affect me so much Kim Jong Kook? Why?” Ji Hyo started crying on Jong Kook’s shoulder. Her face was facing down and her tears were directly wetting Jong Kook’s clothes.

Jong Kook could only keep his silence while letting the woman pour out her feelings. He wanted to comfort her so badly, but he knew that anything that came out might hurt her more. “Maybe it is better to let her release all the tension out. “ He thought so.

As they reached his car, he realized that the woman on his back had become all silent. Turned out, she had fallen asleep soundly on his back. Slowly, he carefully opened his car door and placed her on the front seat. While helping her to buckle the seatbelt, he moved closer and took a better look at her sleeping face. He caressed her cheek and wiped off the remaining tears on the corner of her eyes with his thumb. “I’m sorry; I should not have made you cry…” He whispered.

While driving, he tried to keep the journey as smooth as possible to prevent the possibility from wake her up. As the journey went longer, his back started to hurt more. The hitting and carry of Ji Hyo must had aggravated his injury. He knew he should drive home faster to not prolong his agony. However, he thought of Ji Hyo as his priority. Biting his lip, he continued to endure the pain.

Upon reaching her apartment, Jong Kook recalled that he had no idea which level and unit she was staying. Gently, he woke her up. “Ji Hyo yah, which unit do you stay?”

Ji Hyo woke up in a blur but knew she was around her apartment. “I can go up myself.” She wobbly got out of the car and started moving towards her apartment. As Jong Kook was worried for her, he walked behind her so as to see her safely reaching her unit.

All of a sudden,  Ji hyo stopped in front a flight of stairs. “What’s wrong?” Jong Kook asked.

“I don’t want to climb up.” Ji hyo pouted under the influence of the alcohol. “You carry me up.”Ji Hyo asked Jong Kook, seemly still under the influence of the alcohol.

“Okay…” Jong Kook carried her up as she interlocked her arms around his neck and lay comfortably on his chest. Tolerating the pain, he managed to carry her up multiple flights of stairs still they reached her unit.

When Jong Kook slowly placed Ji Hyo down, she was unable to stand properly and nearly fell. Immediately, Jong Kook grabbed her waist and pulled her to him to prevent her from falling. Unexpectedly, their face was so close to each other. Jong Kook could almost hear the loud breathing from Ji Hyo. His heartbeat was unusually fast from the closeness they had. Ji Hyo was just staring into his eyes. That moment, he looked closely to her eyes, lips and was so tempted to kiss her. “You need to control yourselves Kim Jong Kook! You cannot take advantage of her when she is drunk.” Jong Kook reminded himself.

To his surprise, when he was focusing on calming himself down, Ji Hyo pressed her lips against his.