Just a little confession
Fair fight"I like her."
Gary stopped all his actions at once and flickered his stare toward his friend. He unconsciously pondered a "huh?" out loud before proceeding to ask, "What are you talking about, bro?"
The tanned man toyed with his own lips, gaze staring far ahead at the petite lady who was in search of a mission item. His small eyes concentrated on all her actions; touching the cloth before bending down to search the inside, turning back now and then to check if anyone was behind her to rip her name tag off, and then touching her own lips out of nervousness. He had noticed all of her little actions. He always did, and he was now mimicking what she doing, trying to put himself in her shoes as if he was in that situation as well. He wanted to help her out there and then if only he wasn't eliminated out of the game. Hell, he'd win the game and give her the prize if that would in return earn himself a smile from the beauty. Just only if he wasn't out of the game, he'd be able to do that much for her.
"I... like Song Ji Hyo," he rephrased his former sentence, being a little more specific this time.
The rapper was taken aback, eyes widening and lips pouting a little while he just stared at him like before. He snapped out of confusion, blinking a few times before regaining his composure. He gave his usual goofy grin and elbowed his only friend in the jail with him in his defined arm.
"Ay, bro! Today's Monday! Ji Hyo's mine!" Jong Kook only smirked. He knew that that would be Gary's reaction towards his sudden confession of his feelings for the actress. Though his attention was on the Monday boyfriend, his strong gaze did not seem to falter on the said lady. He let out a snicker when he saw that she nearly walked into the wall head first while continuing her search - enjoying the view of her being clumsy and cute all to himself.
He rested his elbows on the armrest of the chair and locked his fingers, then leaned forward slightly to support his chin on the newly formed bridge. He smirked again, responding to his fellow brother this time after a pause, "That means I can have her for the rest of the week, right?"
Gary didn't know what Jong Kook was thinking about, but he kind of got a grasp of the situation. He didn't fully understand the older man's thoughts but he wasn't unsure of it either. Gary narrowed his eyes, sending the distracted commander a sincere look on his face, "Bro, you're... serious?"
"Yeah... And I know you are, too," Jong Kook replied, almost too casually, still observing Ji Hyo from afar.
Unable to cope with the tension of the conversation, Gary readjusted his cap out of bewilderness - bewildered by the fact that his trusted friend was rivaling against him, this time, not in the usual game of chasing one another and tearing off name tags, but for love. He shut his eyes to clear his thoughts, trying to think straight again. He shook his head in an attempt to deceive his friend sitting beside him; but mostly deceiving himself.
"Nah, bro, I'm not-"
"Don't lie to me, Gary-ah. I know you."
Jong Kook craned his neck to face the fellow music artist, leaving his dream girl out of sight for now as he fixated his gaze on Gary, his eyes as hard as steel. "I know you," he repeated, his mind unreadable.
The said man gulped, feeling the lump in his throat that was formed earlier due to the heating up of nervousness in him. He avoided Jong Kook's gaze upon him, averting his eyes straight toward the hard ground as if hoping he could pierce it through with his wavering stare.
He was so lost. So... confused. Why was this happening to him? He knew himself that he'd always liked the actress. Her silly actions that made every cast member laugh, her quick reflexes that always got her out of a dangerous situation in the last minute, her cleverness that solved every single mission flawlessly; he liked them. He might have even loved them, in fact. He liked the actress, and it was so obvious that every single one of the people (or even things) who watched the show could tell. He was no man who can hide his feelings and he knew that so much more than anyone else. He liked her. He liked Song Ji Hyo. Or maybe even more.
He was always confident of liking her, expressing himself fully in front of the cameramen without fail and making her laugh the laugh that'd make his heart pound faster, and faster, and faster. Her eyes, her nose, her li-
"Gary-ah," his heated thoughts were cut off when Jong Kook grabbed his forearm that was resting against his knees. He shot him a quick glance but quickly diverted his gaze away and bit his lips. He was... afraid.
Jong Kook tightened his grip, a little harder, but not too hard to hurt him. He parted his lips to speak but quickly shut them again, wanting to reform the words in his mouth carefully before speaking to his beloved brother.
He took a deep breath and finally mustered up the courage to speak, "I, too, like Ji Hyo..." he paused, "I, too... am scared..." This time, it was he who bit his lip. He was telling him this because he felt that Gary had the right to know about this. He didn't want to win nor lose without his rival knowing that they were fighting for the same person. He wanted to express himself; something he hadn't done for a long time.
Jong Kook closed his eyes and reopened them slowly, as if he were in pain. He didn't hold his hard stare at the man in front of him this time, instead, he was focusing on his thoughts, looking at something else; anything else but him, the source of his uneasiness. He gritted his teeth and let out a sigh, "Gary, you... are strong..." He spoke again, after a moment of silence, not wanting to admit this to anyone - not even himself, "You are... stronger than me..."
At his last sentence, Gary flinched. His eyelids stretched a little while he stared at him in surprise. "Bro-" he tried to speak but was cut off by the gentle voiced man once again.
"I'm actually... jealous... Jealous that you could declare your love to her so openly... and daringly..." he choked out a weak smile and looked him in the eye, "I can't do that... And I don't think I ever can..."
Jong Kook shifted his position again, sitting comfortably in his chair this time. He tilted his head towards the younger man, still smiling and chuckling lightly. "But for all I know..."
Gary just looked and listened to him. He knew what he was feeling, what Jong Kook was feeling. He was just like him - feeling afraid, feeling inferior, feeling scared, and all sorts of things he was feeling right now, Jong Kook was feeling them too. Was this the power that Song Ji Hyo had all along? To make such a strong man waver without her acknowledgement at all? To make them strong men feel all weak and scared on the inside? To make them want to hold her so close that they would never ever want to let go? This... is the power of one woman... this... Song Ji Hyo?
Gary smiled too, realising they were both the same - helpless. He let out a light laugh as well, "This woman... She's daebak..." he thought.
As Jong Kook reached his hand out toward him, he too, reached his own out.
"Song Ji Hyo out! Song Ji Hyo out!"
"Let's have a fair fight."
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