"No. He can't." She didn't let her finish, after figuring out that she was just testing her.

 

 

Ji Hyo swore she missed the kid, but if she could, she would kick her out of the house. Instead of being mean, she grabbed a bite of the garden salad on her plate."You should learn to mind your own business."

 

"Why? What's there to hide?" Lizzy asked with her innocent voice.

 

She could feel her face heating up. Not only does the young lady know how to irritate her, but she could also read her face too well, which was more annoying to Ji Hyo. Knowing that Lizzy will eventually catch her if another word slips out of , Ji Hyo chose to roll her eyes away, a defense mechanism she established when she's around the little-miss-detective.

 

"So-" But she seemed to enjoy her show, ignoring Ji Hyo's tendency to kick her . "Why did you put down Jong Kook oppa's picture with you?"

 

The food entering failed to reach her taste buds and was left floating in the air. That short, awkward moment, passed with Ji Hyo fixating her eyes on the interrogator. "Oh my god." Her raised hand finally took its place on top of the table. "Why are you so nosy?" She looked at her unbelievably, a little bit amazed at her given 'talent'.

 

"Ha! I was right, wasn't I? There's something you're not telling me." The smirk on her face slowly formed.

 

"No! There's nothing you need to know." Ji Hyo tried to set her foot down.

 

"Oh, come on!" Her voice rang at every corner of the house. "Let me guess."

 

 

Her opinions didn't seem to matter in that conversation."That time when we were at the hospital, I asked you if you ever forgave, oppa. And you didn't answer me." Lizzy held her hand up, gesturing Ji Hyo to let her finish, after she tried to move her lips. "You said you trusted him, but you didn't say that you forgave him."  Ji Hyo got frightened at how she managed to remember something from so long ago. "I think..I think it's because you never did." Suddenly, she wasn't able to utter decent words and it wasn't because she didn't want to say anything. "I got a feeling that you'd realize that and you'll break up with him, because you do not want to hurt him or something." She shrugged, took her chopsticks and picked a piece from her breakfast, as if she didn't even say anything.

 

"Hey, hey." She inched her way closer to Lizzy, not wanting to end their talk with that idea in her head. "There might have been some, changes in our relationship." She stuttered. "But it wasn't just my idea nor was it my choice, we both agreed on it, because it's what we both need."

 

It was Lizzy's turn to roll her eyes. "Unni, Jong Kook oppa loves you and I know that he blamed himself enough for what he's done to you. And you're too scared to see that he'll do anything to make you happy, to make up for everything, even if that takes breaking up with you."

Ji Hyo fidgeted through her phone while waiting for their van to get to the shooting site. For some reason, her hands were shaking as her fingers swiped across the screen.

 

"Unni, we're here." Bomi's voice came out from behind and the car halted pushing them both a little bit out of their seats.

 

The actress looked outside the window and saw the staff going in and out of the airport. It was a typical Running man set, but Ji Hyo was anxious about how everything would work out. After her 'chat' with Lizzy, she never stopped thinking. She even thought of taking a leave of absence, if it weren't for her sanity left, she might have gone along with her crazy idea and ran away. 

 

 

"Ji Hyo-ya." She turned her head, though his voice was different, she kind of hoped it was him. But the person's small stature was very far from Jong Kook's tall and dominating stance. His arms were covered with a thick jacket, but it didn't match the tiger's toned muscles which definitely paid off his long hours inside the gym. His hair didn't have the curly ends that were very soft and smelled like coffee. Ji Hyo can't deny that she loved her daily Americano because it reminded her of him. Even though it wasn't him, she knew who he was. Her monday boyfriend inched closer, welcoming her with a hug, also waking her up from her fantasies.

 

Gary had been really caring and sweet to her, but she never talked to him about her problems. Though, he seemed to be aware of how down she was at the moment, he hugged her as if he knew. "Is there something wrong?" She asked as he inched away and walked alongside of her.

 

"No, everything's fine. Except that after the party last weekend, we never saw you, we were worried." He tapped her back as they joined everyone on the set.

 

"Mong Ji, you're late." Jae Suk turned up, wearing the same jacket as Gary.

 

She scanned her eyes around the room. Haha looked like he just arrived and was slipping on the same jacket while waving a hand to Ji Hyo. Suk Jin stood beside Kwang Soo, whispering something with serious glares coming out of his eyes and the taller one shrunk down, listening intently, both of them are wearing the thick, navy blue garment. And then she saw him, the coordinator was putting on his microphone around the same outfit everyone was wearing. 

 

Bomi appeared out of nowhere and was already taking off her coat, holding, apparently, the team's costume for the day. Good, we're a team today. What's the best way to avoid him? Be on the same team. Great. Ji Hyo would've slapped herself if she could do it without looking obvious and stupid. "Is this some kind of 7 vs. 7?"

 

"Yeah. And I heard they're young." Jae Suk gave him a pat on the head as he took his place in the middle, leaving her with her stylist.

 

"I am not in a great shape this week." She whispered, trying to get her mind free from anything unrelated to work.

 

"Yeah, you didn't go to the gym with Jong Kook-oppa." But it only worked for a while. Bomi smiled while she was zipping Ji Hyo's jacket, unaware of the news.

 

"Ohh yeah, about that-." She thought she should tell her since she'll definitely know eventually and it would be a disaster if Bomi suddenly asks him out to a group dinner like she used to. 

 

"Ji Hyo-ssi we need you on set." The PD called her, pushing back her talk with the young woman. 

 

 

She was about to run to her usual spot at the end, but Jong Kook was standing there. She slowed down a little bit, luckily, everyone was focused on the PD's instructions that she was able to stand beside him without getting his or anyone else's attention. After a few words, the cameras started rolling and a guest began entering the room.

 

 

Nametag ripping? Ji Hyo could only frown. She had her sore arms after that sled race and the outfit she was wearing for hockey didn't help at all. It was heavy and walking seemed to be too difficult, making her so tired that she slept in the van for a while. She loved the thrilling jump in the pool, but it only drained her energy even more. She was actually surprised since no one complained. They were enjoying the games and even Jong Kook was carefully coaching everyone like he normally would. It was the 2nd Running Man Olympics and the young idols formed a tough team to beat that, even though they were all laughing, the running man members' competitive spirits showed off from time to time.

 

It was then a hide-and-seek game, where each team would take turns between hiding and seeking every ten minutes. Ji Hyo's team was first to attack and she stormed away from everyone to do her job. Though her body was aching, she ran around looking for the idols, focusing her mind on that sole task and didn't let any other thoughts to get through her head, but after a few minutes of running around she realized that the universe must enjoy teasing her. 

 

She saw someone from her team hiding behind the pillars. She had a hunch that she should leave, but her feet jangled the bells stuck onto the laces, causing the other person to come out of his hideout. Ji Hyo's eyes automatically averted away from his. She thought of a casual conversation as she pretended to look around for their prey. 

 

"We should form like an ant hill or something." He whispered when he arrived closer to her. 

 

 

He didn't stop touching the walls while looking for hidden doors, acting like everything was normal. "To lure them, before the time's up." He spoke in a rush, not even turning his head to look at her. 

 

It bummed Ji Hyo out. She knew that he was just being professional, it was what she wanted them to do. But deep down, there was something that made her want to hear him ask how she was. It was mostly her choice to be in that situation, Lizzy made her think that way, but his way of dealing with her made Ji Hyo feel as if she wasn't as important to him as she thought and she hated it. She hated how she longed for him as much as she wanted to push him away.

 

Jong Kook suddenly stopped and Ji Hyo realized that she was following him. "Here." He ran, so fast that Ji Hyo had no time to ask why they were running. They were the seekers so they shouldn't be escaping, but before she could try to ask again, he snuck inside a dark room, pushing her inside and closing the door behind him. 

 

She gasped for air, almost sitting on the floor with the way she leaned her back on the wall. She couldn't move properly since there seemed to be shelves on both of her sides, something she couldn't see since the room was completely black. She could only hear him taking a few deep breaths in front of her. "What was that?" She finally got to ask. "We lost our VJs." She complained, trying to act like being locked in a room with him, just the two of them, was normal and the only problem was they won't be filmed, nothing else. 

 

 

Ji Hyo thought that it was the perfect time for her to confront him regarding his nonchalance, but then she remembered, about how everything was her fault. So, she decided to keep it to herself. If he chose to pretend that nothing happened, then maybe that's what she should do. Besides, that's what she ought to be doing. 

 

"I know what you're thinking." His sudden deep voice echoed inside the small space. 

 

"Yeah? Like how we should lure them in here? My exact thoughts." She chuckled nervously. She heard him shift a little. She didn't know how close they were, but she was sure that it was close enough for her to smell that same familiar scent coming off of his beanie. It was like their other senses were already heightened from not being able to see anything.

 

"Really?"  A mocking voice replied to her. "You really thought of that?" 

 

Ji Hyo felt lucky that the pitch black room hid her face, which she guessed was crimson red. "Yeah! Why not?" She scoffed, trying to hide her embarrassment.

 

"Ji Hyo-." He chuckled, putting a smile on Ji Hyo's lips. "It's nice to see you, again."

 

"Yeah, you too." The silence was supposed to make her feel awkward, but being in that room alone with him didn't feel uncomfortable at all. It was a familiar feeling that Ji Hyo always feels around him. "Do you think, we shouldn't have-." Earlier this evening, she wouldn't have asked. She thought that if she sees him, she won't be able to talk or even laugh with him.

 

"No. No. Believe me, I think it's better this way." She said those words to herself, almost chanting them every night, and she still couldn't believe it, until now.

 

 

 

"I just heard footsteps." Ji Hyo whispered behind his back while she had her hands wrapped around his arm. They hid in the same room they were in a few minutes ago, after being transformed into the defense team. 

 

It had been a week: a week after that night where everything was decided and they chose to go on, apart, just a few days for him to regress from being unable to sleep and eat, and only a few days ago from when he last held the hands of the woman whom he used to, and he couldn't deny still, consider his whole world. And it already felt like it happened a long time ago. He didn't want their breakup to affect their work and he thought of how they could work on that, but they didn't have to, after all. 

 

He heard the same footsteps that Ji Hyo caught a while ago. "I'm going outside and I'm going to make them chase me back here." In less than five minutes they're going to be able to attack again, so they need a better strategy if they wanted to win. "After we change positions, we can take out their name tags."

 

"Right, you do that, but don't let them rip yours before going in here, okay?" Jong Kook missed her sweet voice. They fought for months that he rarely heard that from Ji Hyo. 

 

"It's been so long since you last talked like that." He purposely teased.

 

She lightly hit his shoulder. "Oh, come on, oppa. Just chase those kids down." 

 

 

 

"So you guys are friends again? As if nothing happened?" The husky voice pressed on Jong Kook while he diced the onion in preparation for that night's dinner. Haha and the other members knew about his relationship with Ji Hyo. They also know that that relationship was over when he stopped talking to them that night at the party. "A few days ago, I couldn't even talk to you, but now you're really telling me that, it's okay?" He knew Haha wouldn't believe him, he couldn't imagine it either. The night turned out differently than he expected. He thought they'd be avoiding each other, like he did earlier that day, but when they were alone, everything seemed to be normal. "You know I support you and Ji Hyo, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you do this."  

 

As his dongsaeng, Haha never told him what to do, that's why hearing him all mad and concerned was something Jong Kook appreciates and is thankful for. "Haha, this isn't about me and Ji Hyo getting back together. Don't you think it's better if we could all get along." But he also knew he had to not listen to him.

 

"Yeah. Yeah. You already invited her tonight. It's not like I can do anything about it." He said, jumping over the back of the couch and landing in between the pillows. 

 

As he turned to sauté the garlic and onion, he heard the doorbell to his place ringing. "Can you get that? That might be Gary." He didn't hear his guest agree, but he figured that he went to the door when the ringing stopped.

 

 

Oddly, he didn't hear any loud noises just like what his dongsaengs usually make when seeing each other. "Hyung, come here." He lowered the fire, curious to see what's happening at his door. As the view came to his sight, he saw Haha looking at him with a strange look and a very bright red faced woman beside him, holding what seemed to be a cake and some balloons. It didn't look as funny as Haha's reaction, which he was trying hard to hide because the lady didn't seem happy, until he saw her holding an accessory. It was a pink headband with a big bow on top, a character, he never imagined Ji Hyo would try to pull off. She turned to him, gesturing to speak to him alone and he nodded with smirks, he tried to hide with his hand.

 

"Why is Haha-oppa here?" She placed the cake on top of the table as she let go of everything else she was holding.

 

"I told you, they wanted to hang out here." He replied while doing his best not to make fun of her.

 

 

"Yes, by we, I meant all of us." He swirled his finger around. "You really thought it will just be the two of us?"

 

"So, he knows, about us?"

 

"Yeah. I told them before, but I never got to tell you because you know." Even though they knew, it was one of the things he never had the chance to share to Ji Hyo.

 

"Ohh, yeah." Ji Hyo looked blank for a moment, but she suddenly curled her lips, probably cursing him and was mentally killing him. "I'm going to kill you." She whispered, hitting his shoulder while walking off to the living room.

 

When he was sure that she couldn't hear him, he laughed his heart out. He peeked inside the cake and saw an 'I'm sorry' message, written on top of it. His chuckles turned into a smile, until he finally calmed down and was just looking at the words, breathing out heavily from time to time.

 

 

 

"Ohh, can you wear that to our Christmas special Ji Hyo?" He heard Haha ask as he arrived in the living room.

 

"Let it go, oppa." He turned to Ji Hyo and saw her rolling her eyes.

 

Jae Suk walked up to him and helped him with the bowl of white spaghetti he was holding. "We brought the wine." The older one tapped his shoulder as he pointed his family. 

 

"I'm glad you could come." He uttered while shaking Jae Suk's wife's hand.

 

"Ji Hyo, Ji Hyo, show Ji Ho your costume." Haha carried Jae Suk's son and walked to Ji Hyo's seat.

 

"Oh, come on!" Ji Hyo took the little boy and slightly kicked Haha's knee. She was now standing up as she cradled the kid in her arms. 

 

Jong Kook sat next to Gary and the latter one stood up to Ji Hyo's side and played with Ji Ho's hand. "Give her some slack Haha."

 

"Thank you!" Ji Hyo added and looked at Haha with a smug.

 

 

Everyone in the room laughed and Ji Hyo put down Ji Ho to chase Gary. 

 

"These kids." Suk Jin shook his head as he took a bite of his food.

 

"Noona's really mad." Kwangsoo blankly said while looking at the two adults running around them.

 

He also took a minute to look at them and he couldn't help, but look at Ji Hyo and how she was laughing despite trying hard not to shout out her bad words.

 

"Aigoo, let's open the wine!" Jae Suk took the lead and raised the bottle he brought.

 

 

 

Jong Kook looked around his place. Haha and Kwang Soo slept at each other's side and were probably drunk from the shots they did. Beside them was Gary who was still drinking his glass of wine and nodded when he met Jong Kook's eyes. The older men laughed at their conversation which was inaudible to him. Their wives were huddled with the kids and they also looked like they were having fun. He then realized that Ji Hyo was nowhere to be seen.

 

"Gary-ah, have you seen Ji Hyo?" He asked the half-sober Gary who shrugged his shoulders as a reply.

 

He straightened his neck and notice the door to his balcony swinging open. He peeked inside and with a smile walked to Ji Hyo who was drinking her own share of the wine. Her hair was flowing with the wind and though Jong Kook could only see the side of her face, he knew it never looked as peaceful. "Still pissed at the kids?"

 

Ji Hyo turned to him in a shock, but immediately laughed it out. "No. It's just so beautiful here." She replied, looking back at the view.

 

He stood beside her and hung his elbows over the marble railing. It was the middle of the night and they could only see the lights from below, but she was right about it being beautiful. "You're right." He switched his gaze and looked at her. "Why are you sorry?" Ji Hyo sighed, her face looked less composed as before. He detested being the person who troubles her. "Are you blaming yourself?"

 

"Okay. I know, it's stupid, let's just forget about it." She took a sip of her drink. "I kind of blame myself, but you're right, we both chose this. So I promise I won't think of it this way ever again." She looked at him, as if she was waiting for him to scold her.

 

"Hey, I didn't say anything." He raised his hands in defeat. She scoffed and averted her eyes from his.

 

 

"It's just too bad because I didn't get to see you in that huge pink bow." He teased, trying to lighten up the mood.

 

 

"Yeah. I'd take a picture if I saw you first."  Ji Hyo pushed him while shaking her head. She finished the drink and looked at him with her sweet smile.

 

"It's not Christmas to you, but Merry Christmas." Breaking up with her was the most difficult thing he ever had to do, but having her by his side made him forget all of that. Looking at her smile, he realized that that's all he ever needed.

 

 

 

 

"Or I'll wait until you ask me to stay for the night." Haha interrupted.

 

He flipped his phone to end the call and turned to the shorter man laughing beside him. "I like you, but that doesn't mean I won't punch you." He threatened his dear friend who immediately stopped snickering.

 

 

"I'm not. I'm returning this necklace. She gave it a long time ago and when I was running through my stuff this morning-." He took out the necklace that Ji Hyo gave him when they met before. "I saw it. I called her about it and since she's shooting near my place, I told her I'll pass by and give it back." 

 

"Ohh, wow, that's pretty." Haha looked at the jewelry and his head bobbed up and down when someone called out to him.

 

 

"Let's go?" He asked Gap Jin, who was running to them.

 

"Actually, someone's looking for you." His face was sweating and he was talking in whispers.