Jong kook ran his hand through his hair once more. He was sure he heard it right that first time. There was no need to ask Jihyo to repeat herself.  

Oppa, my Appa and Umma want me to get married to Chang Joo Oppa.

“Urghhhh! No. This cannot be! Jihyo is mine. I can’t give her away. Not now. Not ever.”

Obviously, he could not sleep peacefully after he heard the news. He could only imagine the shock Jihyo had when she knew about the news. If he was speechless, she must have fallen sick worrying over what to do about it and of course… knowing her, she would think about him. She must have been so worried that she could not pick up her phone. What could she have said then?

He shifted to the side, and then shifted again. He punched his pillow into a seemingly more comfortable shape. How could he sleep when all he could think of was how his girl was coping? Could she sleep at all? Or was she like him, restless and worried and scared?

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KJK: Are you asleep yet?

SJH: No. You can’t sleep too?

KJK: How can I? After my girl drop such a HUGE bomb on me. Are you ok? How much did you cry?

SJH: You are asking me if I am ok? Oppa, I was worried that you won’t be ok. I cried till my eyes dried up. U.U No more tears.

KJK: But…

SJH: But my heart still aches…. I want to be in your arms now…

KJK: I wish I was there holding you, love. But I’m not. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to kiss those tears away. Please sleep. And I’ll sleep too.

SJH: Good night, love.

Both of them drifted off into a soundless sleep, their mind exhausted.

“SONG JI HYOOO!!!! YAAAA! CHUN SEUNG IM!!!!!!”

No alarm could have worked better. Actually, all the other alarms seemed to fail when it comes to waking her up. Only her mother does it best. All she had to do was….

“DON’T MAKE ME SCREAM YOUR NAME ONE MORE TIME!!!”

Jihyo sat upright on her bed, Jihye too was rudely woken up by their mother’s scary scream.

“Omma…. I’m awake! You don’t have to…” Jihyo yawned “Scream at me…” Her voice went down to a mumble.

Her head was bobbing, she was trying to fight her sleep, or maybe not. Jihye shook Jihyo’s body as well.

“Yah! Wake up! Your phone is vibrating!”

Startled, she reached out for her phone. Obviously, the first person that came to her mind was Jong kook.

“Good morning dear. Hope you slept well,” Jihyo greeted sweetly.

“Owh. Jihyo ah… Good morning. Erm… It’s weird that you’re using such… erm… words on me.” Chang Joo replied, stuttering shyly.

A blank silence filled the moment. How could she be so careless and not check her phone properly? She plopped herself back into bed, phone away from her ear.

“Sung Cheun Im! Yaaa! You there? I’m reaching in half an hour. Did you hear me?”

“Yes. I’ll see you later… bye” Jihyo’s voice grew softer at every second. She could feel Chang Joo’s smile even though he was at the other end of the line. She clicked the phone off.

Jihye turned to face her sister, her sleepiness turned to wariness. Taking her hand, she squeezed it and held on it, as if to say that she will be there for her.

“Chang Joo oppa?” Jihye asked.

Eyes tightly closed, she slowly nodded. She pushed herself up to sit, hands still tightly holding her sister’s. Jihyo could feel a headache coming. How is she going to pass through this day?

“I thought it was Jong kook oppa, turns out it was…”

“So what are you going to do Unnie?”

“What I do best, take things one step at a time. I am going to work. Then tonight, I am going to stay with Jong Kook Oppa. I owe him an explanation.”

“Good! Then I’ll figure out what to do with Appa and Umma! After I sleep first.”

Eyes narrowed and lips thinned, Jihyo grabbed her pillow and hit her sister, forcing her to not sleep again.

“You. Promised. To. Help!” She said with every hit.

“Ok! Ok! Go and wash up! Chang Joo oppa is coming.”

Jihyo cried a protest before moving to wash up. She had about twenty minutes before he came to fetch her. As soon as Jihyo walked out, her phone silently vibrated, bringing Jihye’s attention to it. On the screen, it was written as ‘My love’ and Jihye mimed puking. She knew her sister only had a hard outer surface; everything under that tough, solid exterior was soft, sweet and romantic.

“Good Morning dear!” Jihye greeted sweetly on the phone, trying her best to imitate Jihyo.

“Owh… who is this?” was the reply on the other hand.

Jihye giggled, sensing the panic of her sister’s secret boyfriend. “Who else, your future sister in law!”

“What? Hello? Who is this? Is Jihyo there? I’m sure you…”

“Kim Jong kook shi. I know everything about the both of you! You have to answer to me or else, I can make this relationship much much more difficult than it already is.”

“Oh, Allright, okay. Just tell Jihyo that I called. Erm… Thank you…”

Jihye collapsed on the bed with fits of giggles and right at that same moment Jihyo walked in. The sight of her sister laughing was enough for her to suspect that she had done something fishy. She grabbed her phone and looked at it. Nothing seemed different. She looked through her phone logs.

“Oh My God! You brat! You picked up his call! What did he say?”

Jihye just laughed, on and on only to be stopped by her mother screaming once more at the top of her lungs for her to quickly get ready since Changjoo is waiting.

Today was pretty uneventful, unlike her life. The shoot for that day went as smoothly as it could and Jihyo even forgot about what happened the day before. Or rather, she dedicated the whole day of shoot for herself so that she could forget about the horrible matchmaking.  It was until her break when she took out her phone to check her schedules that received a huge shock.

Her weeks were fully packed. No, actually her days were fully packed. Not a day to spare for herself, not a day to spend with her loved ones. Jihyo raised her head, eyes like a hawk just to look for her Chang Joo.

“Owh, Jihyo yah. Looking for someone?” He said, surprising her instead.

“Yes” She mumbled. “You, actually. How come my schedule is this packed?! I don’t even have time to rest!”

“Let me see. Last I check wasn’t that bad. You had at least two…”

Chang Joo was speechless too looking at her schedule. His forehead crinkled showing just how frustrated he was.

“Let me call the agency. They must have agreed with whatever schedule the production gave you! I’m going to change it. Wait.”

“Oppa, don’t. You’ll disrupt the whole shoot, if it’s like that. They will have to reschedule and postpone just because of me and I don’t feel good about it. It’s fine. I’ll work. It’s just a shock that my schedule is packed to that extent.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

“Oppa, wasn’t your fault.” Jihyo had an inspiration all of a sudden. “Oppa! Since it’s like this,I’m going to my friends’ place later. I won’t be able to see my friends.  You don’t have to send me back today.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? You have Running Man tomorrow. Won’t you be tired?”

“Stop worrying about me, Oppa. I’ll be fine!” Jihyo walked towards the set, giving Chang Joo a huge wink and feeling way too happy.

Just as she planned, immediately after her shoot, Jihyo had a cab waiting to bring her to Jong kook’s place. She had said goodbye to everyone, including Chang Joo who finally left, feeling worried and unsatisfied that she would not let him wait for her.  But Jihyo did not care. She had only one thing on her mind – to meet the guy who stole her heart.

With food in her hands, she stood in front of the door. Jihyo pressed on the doorbell. Once… Twice… And she could hear footstep and someone approaching the door.

“Hyung, you’re back earl…. Oh!”

“Oh! Angyeong haseyo! Gap Jin shi. Mianhae. I thought Jong Kook Oppa would be home. We promised to have a talk and I didn’t want to eat out. You know… paparazzi…” Jihyo’s cheeks flushed and she was stammering, trying to find some excuse suitable for her situation.

“I see. Come in. I’ll let Jong Kook Hyung know you’re here.”

“No! It’s ok. Don’t rush him. I can wait.”

Gap Jin looked at her confused. It’s not like Jong Kook to just invite a girl and not be there waiting for him. He is too much of a gentleman to do so. As he closed the door and led her into the living room, realisation dawned on him. Could this be Jong kook’s mystery girl? He had his suspicions that Jong Kook was keeping something away from him and he was always getting home very late. Somehow, he always thought he heard a girl in the background whenever he was on the phone with Jong Kook but Jong Kook had always managed to cover it up. Well, now is a good time to clear the air.

“So, Jihyo shi. I don’t know if it’s true… But, does Jong kook have a girlfriend?”

Jihyo’s eyes widened for a second and he cheeks flushed once more. Why do I get embarrassed so easily? She was going to answer him when the just closed door opened once again. Kim Jong kook stood just by the threshold of the door and stared right towards the living room. He could only see one thing, and his face broke into a huge smile.

“Oh, hyung! You’re back. Erm… You have a visitor.”

“I know,” Jong Kook answered readily. “Gap jin ah, let me formally introduce you to someone very special to me…”

Gap Jin’s head swivelled back and forth. He kept looking between Jihyo and Jong Kook, trying to process what he saw.

“You’re saying…?”

Jong walked to Jihyo’s side and placed his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He buried his nose into her hair and then rested his cheek on her head, smiling at Gap jin.

“We’ve been together for a few months already. Trust me, I wanted to tell you sooner but we were afraid our agency will not approve. I was afraid that you won’t support me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Just a scary thought. You know how insecure I can get. I need control; I need to be sure before I can make my move.”

“Hyung, if you keep doing that, you will never be happy. I’m happy for you. I just wished that you have told me earlier, so that I could help you in any way possible.”

“Thanks. And I hope you don’t mind, but I want to spend some time with Jihyo. You can stay here. It’s unfair if you go out. We’ll be in my room.”

Jihyo blushed again and this time she pinched Jong kook’s arm, causing him to shout.

“HAHAHA! Hey, what you two do at your own time is not my problem. Have fun! And Jihyo shi, Use protection. Hyung can be quite… rough.”

“YAHHH!” The two protest but Gap Jin has already escaped to his room, roaring with laughter. He was truly very happy for Jong Kook. He deserved his own happiness and he could see that the past few weeks, even though Jong Kook was tired from getting back late, he was definitely cheerful. But something distracted Gap Jin from his well thoughts of his hyung.

His phone vibrated and lighted up from beside his bed. He took it and saw that he received a message.

Gap Jin ah! I’m going to get engaged real soon! It’s with Song Jihyo! You’re the only one who knows with who. We had a family dinner yesterday and her parents and she herself agreed! I need your help in setting up my announcement party. You’re one of the people I could trust. Call me when you’re free.

He opened the door and watched the pair at the dining table, eating and smiling and joking around. He could not help but feel a little bit of fire burning inside him.

Jong kook laughed at the story that Jihyo told him and when the laughter subsided, he took her hands and squeezed it, holding it tight.

“We’re going to make it out of this mess, you know that right?”

Jihyo nodded and squeezed his hand back, grateful that Jong Kook did not give up on her. Not yet…