Episode 6

Jodi walked on to the bus and smiled as she spotted her husband at the very back. She stopped to speak to the other WGM couples along the way, glad to see them after so long. Reaching his side, at last, Jodi smiled tiredly at JiYong and dropped down into the seat beside him.

JiYong returned her smile with a much brighter one of his own. He took off his headphones, her forehead and asked, “Rough night?”

“Very. Have I ever told you that my sweet JinShil is a terrible patient? He had a fever when he came home from school yesterday, so we separated the boys so they both wouldn't be sick. He screamed and cried all night. 'I'm hot, noona. I'm cold, noona. Noona, I want my brother. I'm hungry, noona. JODI!! Bring me water!'” Jodi rubbed her face and leaned back.

JiYong chuckled and pulled her head to his shoulder. He lightly massaged her neck and made sympathetic noises. “Is he feeling better?”

“The fever broke around four this morning. After that, he slept like a rock. I took him to halmoni's before coming here.” Jodi closed her eyes, then forced herself to open them again and sit up. “I am so tired,” she moaned.

“It's about an hour and a half to Daebu Island, you might as well sleep.” JiYong shrugged out of his jacket and put it around her shoulders. He pulled her close again and kissed her forehead. “Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there.”

Jodi nodded and yawned, then tucked herself into his side. Not long after she fell asleep, JiYong did, too. At some point during the trip, Jodi turned away from him in her sleep, and he instinctively snuggled up against her back. And the cameras caught every minute of it.

* * * * *
 

When the couples arrived on the island, they were taken to Shihwa Lake to dig for clams. Neither Jodi nor JiYong were overly excited about the prospect of playing in the mud, but they went along. The producers turned it into a competition, and with one understanding filled look, they knew they had to win. And they did. The prize was a plate of beef to be grilled when all the couples got together for dinner later on.

Over the meal, they were directed to play a game testing the knowledge of one spouse about the other. The prizes were more ingredients for bulgogi. Not surprisingly, JiYong and Jodi won that game as well. Jodi received extra points because she was able to name all twelve of JiYong's tattoos. They lost points because JiYong missed two of her four.

“What? You have four tattoos? I've only seen the two,” he complained. “Where are they?” Jodi pointed to her right shoulder and patted herself on the back. “Why haven't I seen them?”

“Because you've never seen me without a shirt on,” Jodi answered with a straight face. Everyone at the table blushed but her. Now that JiYong thought about it, she always had on long sleeves. “I'll show you later.” Everyone laughed and it took Jodi a moment to realize why. “What I meant was, I'll change my shirt to one with short sleeves so you can see them. erts.”

Because JiYong and Jodi were not the selfish types, they shared with Hoya and GaEun, who had done the worst and would have only had rice, soup, and banchan to eat. The wives all made a big show of stuffing the lettuce and feeding their husbands. DoHee took extra prodding, but eventually, she managed to feed her husband despite her blushing and fumbling. When dinner broke apart, the cameras stopped rolling and the couples went to their hotel rooms for the night.

  JiYong: Still awake?

 Jodi: Yes, nampyeon.

 JiYong: Can I come to your room? I'm bored.

 Jodi: No! Imagine the headlines. 'G-Dragon Pays Late Night Visit to Fake Wife's Hotel Room!'

 JiYong: Late night? It's just after 9!

 Jodi: still . . . .

 JiYong: Take a walk with me? I have to leave you in the morning to get to the airport.

 Jodi: Sure, I'll see you in the lobby in 10.
 

    * * * * *
 

“Where are you going this time?” Jodi asked after a while. The couple held hands and walked leisurely along the beach, chatting comfortably. It was a chilly night, but they were willing to brave the cold to spend a little more time together.

“Taiwan. We have a fan meeting to do. I should be back Monday.” Jodi grunted and nodded, but kept her eyes on the water.

“Oh, yeah.” Jodi took off her jacket and rolled her sleeve up. “This is my fathers' badge.”

“His badge number was 1-4-3-4?”

“Yeah. He used to tell me it stood for, ’I Love You, Jodi’”

“That’s sweet.” JiYong looked at the tattoo, impressed by the level of detail in the piece. He pushed the sleeve up a little higher to get a better look, but as he pushed upward, more of her shoulder was exposed and so was the scar that ran from the front of her shoulder to the back. “What's this?”

“I had shoulder surgery a few years ago,” she explained quickly and pushed the sleeve back down. “Lift up the back of my shirt.”

JiYong did, and between her shoulder blades was The Buddhist Eternal Knot. He traced his finger down it and she shivered. “Oh, sorry. Come to think of it, let's head back. We've been out here for a while.”

Jodi nodded and put her jacket back on. Hand in hand, they turned back towards the hotel. In the elevator, Jodi pressed herself into the corner and closed her eyes.

“Are you okay?” JiYong asked in concern.

Jodi looked up at him with a tight smile. “I told you, I don’t like elevators.” JiYong immediately reached to stop the moving box, but she stilled his hand. “It’s fine. It’s only six more floors, not sixty.” JiYong stepped into her space and hugged her. When the bell chimed to signal that they had reached her floor, JiYong held her hand and walked her to her door. There, he hugged her tightly once again and murmured in her ear, “I wish I could sleep with you.”

“I know,” Jodi responded with a slight frown. “I’ve actually gotten used to your snoring.”

“I do not!--” JiYong started to yell but caught himself. “I do not snore. If you want to talk about irritating sleep habits, why do you open the blinds before bed?”

“I like to see the sun when I open my eyes.”

“Well, I don’t,” he grumbled.

“Too bad. My house, my rules.”

“Aish.” JiYong cursed without heat. With one final squeeze, JiYong kissed his wife on the cheek and backed away. “Sleep well, anaeyah.”

“Not without you, nampyeon.”

* * * * *

Jodi's throat hurt when she woke up. She sneezed as they hit Seoul city limits. By the time she got back to her car, her nose was stuffy. As she walked in her door, she faced the fact; she was sick.

* * * * *

“Are you feeling any better?” JiYong asked from his safe, germ-free dressing room in Taiwan.

“No,” Jodi told him. To punctuate the ridiculousness of the question, she started coughing and in pain. “Make it stop,” she rasped out. Her voice, which could be described as husky anyway, was now all but gone. “My whole body hurts.”

“I'm sorry, baby. I wish I was there to take care of you.”

“I'm glad you're not. You don't want what I have. I don't want you to have what I have. I don’t want to have what I have.”

“Have you been to the doctor? And why isn't SooYoung with you?”

Jodi nodded, though he couldn’t see it, and the action made her start coughing again. “I went yesterday. He gave me some medicine and vitamins. It just has to run its course. And Soo isn't here because one of us has to be healthy and take care of the boys.”

“Are you eating?”

Shaking her head made her start coughing, too. “Some.”

“When is the last time you ate?”

Jodi shrugged, and not surprisingly, followed it with another round of body-wracking coughs. “Don’t remember.”

“Oh, baby. You have to eat.”

“Well, I know that, and you know that, but my stomach disagrees.”

“You must be sick. I've never heard you turn down the prospect of food.”

“You can’t see me giving you the finger, but I am. Did you just call me to give me a hard time? I can guarantee you, I am having a hard time as it is.”

“I called to check on my ailing wife, and to see if she would wish me luck before going on stage.” This was greeted by another round of coughing. “I guess not. I've gotta go, but I'll call you after the show, okay? Get some sleep.”

“Gladly.”

* * * * *

“What?” Jodi moaned in agony into the phone. She had finally stopped coughing long enough to fall asleep.

“Open the gate,” JiYong ordered.

“No.”

“Jodi, get up and open the gate.”

“I don't like you,” she assured him as she crawled out of the bed. She tightened the robe around her waist and shuffled over to the security monitor. In it, she could only see a tinted window. “Nugu-seyo?”

“Just open it,” JiYong complained in her ear. Too tired to argue, she opened the gate. “Now open the door, then go sit in the kitchen.”

“Why am I letting strange people in my house at your command? You aren’t even here to protect me.”

“Stop. Arguing. With. Me.”

Jodi rolled her eyes but did what he said. “There. I'm sitting at the table. What now?” As she finished the sentence, her front door opened and a masked man came in with a bag. “And you are?”