I’m back but I’ll be gone again… enjoy!

It was already close to 10 pm but Jiyoung and Ji-ohn were still visibly excited, bringing all the belongings to Jihyo and asking her to pack it in their luggage. It was their first overseas trip, after all. Jihyo and Gary were invited to take part in a Chinese variety show, Day Day up, and they have decided to bring the two children along. It made them excited, even though it was a short trip.

“No, not this, Youngie, there’s no space for that,” Jihyo shook her head as Jiyoung brought his lego set to her. He shrugged and went off to find another toy for Jihyo. On the other hand, Ji-ohn was already tired out from running in and out from the rooms and leaned against Jihyo. Jihyo laughed as she adjusted herself, but she eventually said, “Ji-ohn ah… I can’t pack properly if you stay like this!” Feeling cheeky, Ji-ohn let herself fall onto Jihyo’s legs and started giggling.

“Oppa…” Jihyo playfully whined. “Take your child away from me!”

Knowing that her mother is joking, Ji-ohn just giggled and snuggled herself closer. “Appa…” she called. “Come and take me away from eomma!”

Gary laughed as he walked over from the study room. “Wae, wae?” he asked, although he could already tell what was going on. He bent down to carry Ji-ohn away from Jihyo.

“Ayyy, why did you make yourself so sweaty?” he asked, brushing away the strands of hair that stuck to her face.

“Bathe them again, oppa,” Jihyo told him. Gary nodded, and went over to the children’s room to find Jiyoung.

“Whoa, aedeul-ah, what did you do here!” he laughed as he saw the mess. He let Ji-ohn down. “Ja, let’s keep these and we’ll shower after this.”

“We already did,” Jiyoung reminded him, and continued selecting his toys.

“But you made yourself so sweaty!” Gary said, pinching Jiyoung’s cheeks. “Come, let’s pack up,” he said again.

“Aniyaa, I want to help eomma bring our things,” Jiyoung still refused.

Gary laughed, amused that his son thought that he was actually helping Jihyo, when he was actually creating more trouble.

“You want to help eomma?” he asked. Jiyoung nodded. “But she wants you to shower and then go to sleep!”

Jiyoung pouted a little. But Gary continued. “I’ll help you help eomma later, okay? But first, we should keep these first, then shower and sleep! Otherwise you can’t wake up tomorrow!” he said. Jiyoung thought for a while, but eventually nodded. He held out his pinky for Gary. “Promise?” he asked. Gary hooked his pinky with his and nodded.

After their promise, they started to pack up the room. Then, Gary took them to shower.  By then, they were already getting sleepy, so he carried them to the toilet. They were getting heavier, but he still managed to carry both of them at one go.

He sat them down on their stools in the toilet and took turns to bathe them. It didn’t take long, because they weren’t fooling around as usual. When they were done, he asked, “Who wants to get dressed first?” Jiyoung raised his hands first, so Gary brought him out first, while Ji-oh stayed inside the toilet where it was warmer.

Usually he would have let Jiyoung put on his clothes by himself, but seeing that he was so tired, he helped him. And he actually dozed off while Gary was helping him wear his pyjamas. Gary laughed to himself when he noticed that. “You are so tired already and yet you still want to play,” he whispered to his son, as he adjusted his blanket.

He went into the toilet and laughed again. “Aigoo, Ji-ohn ah!” he exclaimed, as he picked up his daughter. She fell asleep on the chair, leaning against the wall and only wrapped with a towel. “How can you fall asleep like this,” he sighed as he carried her. She was still sound asleep despite Gary’s movements.

With the two children sleeping, he went over to help Jihyo with the packing.

“Ji-ohn fell asleep in the toilet,” he told her.

She smirked and said, “My genes.”

“Not something to be proud of,” he countered jokingly, and Jihyo hit him on his arm. He smiled but said nothing.

He sat there for a while, watching Jihyo pack and occasionally checking the items in the luggage.

“Go and sleep,” she told him. “It would be a long day tomorrow.”

He put his arms around her waist. “That’s why I’m helping you so you can sleep early too,” he said as he leaned his head on her neck, still flipping through the things with his other hand.

“Oppa, do you really think you are helping?” she laughed, hitting his arm away from the clothes. “You are messing the things up,” she said.

“Am I?” he said, slightly guilty as he pulled his hands away. But instead of going to sleep, he just sat there and watched Jihyo. She knew he just wanted to accompany her, so she just smiled and said nothing. When she was done, Gary helped her put out the luggage and they went to bed.

They woke up around 7 the next morning, since their flight was at 11am. The two children were very grouchy because they slept much less than usual. Gary’s manager came to drive them to the airport at 8, but Ji-ohn refused to leave the house without Daeyang.

“Yang yang, yang yang,” she called, tearing up as Jihyo helped her with her shoes. The dog came over to her and she reached out to pat him.

“We can’t bring Daeyang along, Ji-ohn ah. It’s too troublesome!” Gary explained. She refused to listen and wrapped her hands around Daeyang’s neck.

Jihyo gently pulled her away from the dog. “Why are you like this today? You aren’t like this normally,” she said, patting her daughter gently. “You can film without Yangyang, right? So can we let him stay at home for today too?”

Ji-ohn shook her head, but she let Jihyo carry her up anyway. She continued to sob on the way to the car. Jiyoung looked up at Gary, at a loss of what to do. Gary smiled, and patted his head. “Kwenchana, she’ll be fine soon,” he said. He held Jiyoung with one hand and pulled the luggage with another hand. Jihyo walked beside him.

By the time they reached the car, Ji-ohn had already cried herself to sleep. Jihyo adjusted herself so that Ji-ohn could lean on her chest. Jiyoung slept soon after, lying on Gary's legs.

"Let's go through via the VIP entrance," Gary's manager suggested. 

"Are you able to arrange for that within such a short notice?" Gary asked. His managed nodded, as he dialled a some numbers on his phone.

"The fans would be disappointed," Jihyo said. Gary shrugged. The children are sleepy and grouchy. 

He didn't want them to be awaken by the noise. He didn't mind if people called him selfish or overprotective. He just didn’t want his kids to suffer. Jihyo nodded, reading his thoughts.

“We’ll see if we can come through the normal way when we come home, then,” she suggested. Gary agreed.

When they reached the airport, they went straight to the lounge only accessible to business class and first class ticket holders. It was much quieter there, although a few did come up for signatures. Jiyoung was already awake and he wandered around, amazed at the facilities. Gary kept his eye on him as while entertaining the fans, while Jihyo was still busy with Ji-ohn.

“Appa, appa, come here!” Ji-young called, jumping excitedly. Gary excused himself and went over to him, carrying him up. “Why, why?” he asked.

“I want to play this,” he told Gary, pointing at a video game. They played for a while until it’s time for boarding.

“Let me carry her,” he told Jihyo. Jihyo smiled gratefully. Her arms were rather tired already. Ji-ohn wasn’t very heavy, but she had been carrying her for quite a while now. Ji-ohn didn’t stir when Jihyo transferred her over to Gary, much to both of their relief. They already checked in their luggage, so Jihyo only had to hold Jiyoung. They walked over to their cabin, with Jiyoung skipping with excitement.

“Whoa!” Jiyoung exclaimed as he saw the seats. It was business class, so it was quite spacious.

“It’s big, right?” Jihyo asked him and he nodded.

“Aren’t you lucky?” Gary asked rhetorically. “I only got to take a plane in my twenties and you already have the chance to take business class when you are only three!”

Jiyoung shrugged, looking at cheekily at him.

The seats were in pairs, so Gary sat with Ji-ohn, while Jihyo sat with Jiyoung.

Ji-young continued to wander around along the aisles while others were still boarding. Jihyo let him be, since there weren’t many people around. Ji-ohn woke up by then as well, but she was unfamiliar with the surroundings, so she didn’t ask to walk around. Not long later, the announcement for the take-off was made.

“Young ah… come back here,” Jihyo called out. He obeyed and came running back.

“Don’t run,” Jihyo laughed, patting his seat for him to sit down. She helped him buckle up. “Wae?” he asked, referring to the buckle.

“The plane is going to fly soon,” Jihyo explained.

During take-off both children felt uncomfortable so they cried. It was the first time they experienced such a strange feeling.

Gary taught Ji-ohn to blow her nose to pop her ear. He pinched her nose for her, trying to get her to blow, but she didn’t listen. Jihyo passed Gary some sweets to give Ji-ohn.

“Eat this, Ji-oh yah,” he told her, feeding her the sweet. She turned away. “It’s a sweet,” he told her. “Do you not recognise the smell?” he asked.  Upon hearing that it is a sweet, she opened and ate it. “How is it? Is it helping?” he asked, watching her daughter’s expression carefully. She stopped crying, but her eyes were still red and teary. Instead of replying, she reached out to grab Gary’s hands for more.

“Yah, yah!” he laughed as he moved his hands away. She giggled as she pulled his hand harder, knowing that he would give in. Although he didn’t know if she stopped crying because the sweets stopped the pain or because she liked the sweets, he let her have it anyway.

Behind them, Jiyoung had already stopped crying and Jihyo was asking him to look out of the window.

“Are we in the sky now?” he asked Jihyo.

“Yes, we are,” she replied. “Can you see, that is our country,” she said, pointing to the land below them.

“It is very small!” he said.

“Eo, because we are very high up now.”

“Are we as high as the birds?”

“Yes.”

Jiyoung nodded and stayed silent for a while. Jihyo thought his questioning had ended, but he soon began again. “Then why is there no birds outside?”

“Uhm…. “Jihyo didn’t know how why either. “Maybe there are, but we just can’t see it.”

“Why?”

“Let’s just watch a cartoon, okay?” she said, trying to distract him. She helped him choose a cartoon and put on the headphones for him.

“What’s this?”

“Headphones.”

“Why do I need to wear this?”

“So that you can listen to the sound.”

“Why?”

“Yah, Kang Ji Young,” Gary called out from in front, half amused, half annoyed. Jihyo tried to control her laughter. “Just watch the cartoon,” he told him. Jiyoung did focus on his cartoon after that.

In front, Gary played some children songs for Ji-ohn through his phone. She shook her head to the rhythm. After making sure that his daughter was absorbed in the music, he watched his own movie.

The ride took about 3 hours. It was past lunch-time by then, but they hadn’t eaten much, because they children didn’t like the food on the plane. Gary and Jihyo got them some food at the airport. The programme arranged for guide came to pick them up. He arranged for their belongings to be sent to the hotel, while he brought them around the area. They then left for the filming studio at 7.

Filming started at 8, but they arrived earlier to do their make-up. The children were kept entertained by the staffs.

They left the room around 7.50pm. “Jiyoung ah, Ji-ohn ah, stay here and play with the noona and eonnies okay? Eomma and appa needs to work,” Gary told them.

“No, no,” Ji-ohn said. “I want to follow.”

“Be good, okay, Ji-ohnnie?” Jihyo said, ruffling her hair.

“No…” she said again, on the verge of tearing up again. Jihyo and Gary felt bad. Within a day she had already cried 3 times.

Understanding their situation, a staff said to them, “We can bring them to the stage too, but they have to stay at one side. But they can watch you film. Would it be a better solution?”

Jihyo nodded at him gratefully. So it was decided that they stay near the area where the cameramen are located.

“Be good and don’t disturb the samchons, okay?” Gary told them and they nodded.

Gary and Jihyo entered the set with interlocking fingers. The audience cheered. They introduced themselves and the emcees asked them some questions.

“Now, we all know that Monday couple started off as a business couple… it was a love line. I am sure many of our audience are interested to know it was scripted, right?”

The crowd cheered. Jihyo smiled shyly and Gary answered for them.

“Running man is a variety show… So while we are told to start a love line, the interactions were not scripted, although… sometimes we mentally prepare to…. do things for the show.”

The answer seemed to create some disappointment among the audience.

“Mmm,” the emcee said, trying to salvage the situation. “But still, you guys got together! So there must be a point where real feelings developed right?”

The couple exchanged glances again. This time, Jihyo answered.

“Ne. There was a point in time, when I really got confused. I didn’t know if I liked him we have to be a business couple, or because I really liked him. At that time, I dreaded filming sometimes, because I didn’t know what or how to feel, and I didn’t know how to react towards him.”

Gary looked at her, quite in shock. She had never told him this before. The emcee looked at him, prompting him to say something.

“As for me… when I first saw Jihyo, I knew she was a beautiful person, both inside and outside….” He said. But before he could continue, he was interrupted by the crowd cheers. Jihyo’s face flushed.

“But at that time, I felt that she was miles apart from me. Like we are from different worlds. She’s so beautiful, while I am…” he laughed, not continuing the sentence.

“Aniyo, oppa. There was a period when I felt that you were the most handsome member, sometimes even more than the guest,” she interrupted. The crowd exploded into oohs and ahhs.

“Eh how come you don’t say things like this to me at home?”

“Do things like this still need to be said?” she giggled, feeling quite embarrassed now.

“Ay, look here, did you forget my existence?” the emcee asked, waving his hands around. The two stopped flirting and smiled awkwardly.

The emcee resumed his job and turned to Gary. “But was there a point where you felt confused like she did?” the emcee asked him.

He thought for a while. “Rather than feeling confused, I was trying to control my feelings,” he confessed. Jihyo looked away, getting reminded of those days. His words had a different meaning and only she could understand.

“Why did you two not try to get together back then?”

“For the show,” both of them said at the same time, as if it was their standard answer to anyone who asked, although they both knew it wasn’t the full reason.

The emcee laughed at their synchronization. “Isn’t it ironic? The show that brings you two together prevents you from bring together?”

The couple laughed. Gary explained, “If we got together, and somehow we broke up. Then…. Then one of us might have to leave the show. I don’t like I can live with that.”

“But eventually, you left Running Man. It was so sudden.”

“Ne…” Gary replied, not knowing what else to say. Sensing that Gary wasn’t keen on going into that topic, the emcee switched to another topic.

“So how did you two get together in the end?”

Jihyo smiled. It was quite…. romantic, now that she think back about it.

“About a year after oppa left, I got into a car accident…” she said.

“Ah… yes, I know about it. You also lost your memory, right?”

“Ne… but somehow… we managed to find each other again. And we fell in love again.” She smiled so sweetly that it explained everything.

“Whoa… you two are like the current version of Romeo and Juliet,” the emcee commented.

“Aniyo!” Gary exclaimed. The emcee looked at him in shock, and Jihyo was quite surprised too. “Romeo and Juliet died in the end,” he explained himself. “We are just us.”

The emcee nodded and laughed Jihyo smiled at him.

They continued to talk for some other topics and also played some games. Jihyo lost at a game, but Gary offered to take the punishment for her.

The emcee got ready to hit his forehead. Gary closed his eyes and prepared to be hit, while Jihyo held him tightly. Mianhae oppa… she thought to him.

Before the emcee hit him, voice rang across the studio.

“Do not hit my appa!” Jiyoung screamed, running towards them, pulling Ji-ohn behind him. The crowed was surprised by his sudden appearance.

“Ah sorry..” the staff taking care of him rushed up to get him back. “He was too fast! One moment he was playing with the phone and when we looked up, he’s running out already!”

Thinking of his feet, the emcee quickly stopped Jiyoung and asked him to introduce himself.

Jiyoung frowned and moved away from him. “You wanted to hit my appa. You are a bad person, I should not talk to you,” he said.

The crowd burst out laughing as the emcee looked stunned. Gary and Jihyo barely contained their laughter, but Gary eventually said, “Jiyoung, you can’t talk to samchon like this.”

“He wanted to hit you,” he said, upset.

“It was just a game.”

Jiyoung pouted, feeling upset.

Gary knelt down to his height. “Thank you for saving me, Jiyoung ah, but this is just a game, right? It would not hurt appa,” he said, ruffling his hair and secretly proud that his child is protecting him.

Gary got ready to be hit once again, but Ji-ohn spoke up.

“Appa, eomma, you said before we shouldn’t hit anyone, even when we are playing, right?”

“Eo…” Jihyo replied, not knowing how to get out of the situation.

“Okay then, since we can’t hit you, how about you come up with a short song? I’m sure you have heard of the seven step verse by Cao Zhi? He came up with the poem in 7 steps. I’ll give you an advantage then. You’ll have 10 steps!” the emcee announced, pleased with his quick wits.

“Ya, how can I come up with a song within 10 steps!” Gary laughed in exasperation. The emcee ignore his pleas and walked his first step as the audience chanted one.

Two…

Gary glanced at Jihyo, who looked at him guiltily.

Three…

Four…

Oppa fighting! She thought to him and smiled. You can do it!

Five…

Six…

Gary closed his eyes.

Seven…

Eight…

Nine…

He opened his eyes.

Ten…

“You have eyes that shine like the Seine River,” he began slowly, looking right into Jihyo’s eyes.

“Your heart as high as the Eiffel Tower,

It was too high for me, too high for me, I couldn’t reach.

You’re like an angle that descended on earth,

Spreading love with every footsteps you take,

Melting hearts with every smile you make,

You’re too far from me, too far from me, I couldn’t reach.

You’re like the Seven Wonders of the World, Seven wonders of the world,

Taking away millions of breaths away, millions of breaths away,

You’re too far from me, too far from me, I couldn’t reach.

Now I hold you right beside me,

You’re the angel that descended on my heart,

You’re my eighth wonder of the world,

I hold you close, right beside me, right beside me.”

The crowd exploded into cheers.

I took the entire day to do this. Hope your guys are satisfied! And although they did go onto the variety show, nothing like that happened HAHA. See you in a month.