"Noona, I want to have you," Kwang Soo revealed, as Ji Hyo stared at him, letting a few unbelieving chuckles escape through her lips. In the split second it took everyone else to react to his words, he dismissed his palpitating heart and the nervous tremor of his fingers. He was telling the truth but he could never bring himself to say it directly to her.

As the aluminum plate fell onto his head, he widened his eyes and tried to explain himself, agitated by the unforeseen confession; the members believing he did so to fulfill his comedic ambition, when in reality, he was flustered, not knowing what came over him; why he revealed his true heart when he has managed to keep a tight grip over his feelings for so many years.

They laughed. Suk Jin whacked his head playfully but forcefully with a foam fist, his expression shifting quickly from teasing to looking quite stern while Jong Kook turned his attention away from his own partner and threw the younger man a surprised look but nonetheless joining in on the hilarity overcoming the whole room.

"What do you mean, you want to have her?!" Jong Kook roared, amused, as Kwang Soo waved his hands in denial in front of Ji Hyo and gently held onto her elbow, tongue-tied but still managing to utter a weak "No, no! That's not it!". He tried to reason with the members but to no avail. Seeing how his effort to clear up the misunderstanding was pointless, Kwang Soo played along, pretending his slip of tongue was simply a result of his desire for extended screen time.

The chaos subsided, as quickly and as suddenly as it arose. Ji Hyo jumped right back into the game not thinking twice about what had just happened, her mind focused on finishing the mission at the speed of light, which proved to be quite a challenge considering her partner's denseness and her inability to form comprehensible verbal clues.  

Although Kwang Soo's unplanned confession was seen as an unfruitful attempt at guessing the answer to Ji Hyo's riddle, he was being sincere. But how could she ever find out when he's being so secretive about the matters of his heart? He wanted to tell her but she would never take him seriously. Constantly claiming in interviews that she wasn't a woman to him, that she was and will always be a family member didn't help either. Plus, Kwang Soo already hit on her once before their purely platonic relationship started, she might think he's just playing a prank, which wouldn't be unlike him. 

"Success!" the pd-in-charge exclaimed, to the relief of the tall man, still affected by the aftermath of his revelation, ears flushed and body tensed with nervous energy.

The pair finally got the answer right and high-fived each other, settling into the empty spot left by the next couple up for their turn. Ji Hyo chatted briefly with a female guest as Kwang Soo glanced around the room, feeling a heavy pair of eyes bearing through his soul.

"What was that about?" Haha mouthed, eyebrows raised and upper body slightly extended forward, to which Kwang Soo shrugged, incapable of providing an elaborate response considering the current circumstances.

Kwang Soo's eyes followed the game, occasionally crinkling them and lifting the corners of his mouth, making all sorts of "oh!"s and "ah!"s as if he was genuinely immersed into the game when in fact, he was replaying the earlier events again and again in his head. Why did Ji Hyo look so put off by the idea of him wanting her? Was it because she really only thought of him as a younger brother? Or was it that he was just so unappealing that the thought of him made her recoil in disgust? Or perhaps, it was-

"We're changing the tape!" A shrill voice interrupted the giraffe's obscure train of thoughts and a sharp pain in his ribs brought him out completely of a trance-like state. One of his fellow betrayer's club member precisely aimed an aluminum plate towards his upper torso. The culprit? The Bob Marley of Korea, or so this one claims.

Haha dashed towards Kwang Soo, never once lifting his heels off the floor, his eyebrows raised higher than the ceiling but nonetheless trying to keep a normal face in order to not arouse any suspicion from the dozens of people surrounding them.

"Yah, what are you doing?" He said through a forced smile. "We've talked about this, this can't happen!"

"I know, hyung, I know... I-I just don't know what came over me!" Kwang Soo exclaimed, as quietly as possible, his eyes darting erratically from left to right as if trying to find a fixed point to stable himself. 

"Get your crap together, Lee Kwang Soo," Haha shook him lightly. He wanted to slap him, which he normally would have done if not for the pity he felt for the taller man. 

"I'm just doing what you asked of me, it doesn't have to be this way, you know. You can just tell her how you feel and worry about the rest later." 

Haha stared at Kwang Soo in silence, waiting for a word, a nod, a punch....Anything, really, that would imply that Kwang Soo wasn't going to hold back anymore. But, nothing. Instead, Kwang Soo turned his neck to get a better look at his beautiful noona.

There she was. Song Ji Hyo. Talking to a female guest deemed pretty by his hyungs. But to his lovesick eyes, everyone failed in comparison to the slender woman. She was absolutely stunning to him when dolled up but she was just as mesmerizing with minimal makeup. Even today, she showed up looking as usual but this time, with a dab of lipstick. A single pop of color on her pale skin took her beauty to a whole other level. His noona's beauty has never failed to render him speechless.

His noona. If only he could call her that way proudly and loudly. 

He sighed, defeated. He was about 99% sure that Ji Hyo was not interested in him romantically, so why bother telling her about his feelings when it's obvious that things would become uncomfortable between them afterwards? He really cherished the current state of their relationship. He didn't want their relationship to solely be a work-relationship. Because that was going to happen if she found out about his feelings. He would rather keep things communal and not speak out on the desires of his heart. Kwang Soo convinced Haha that this decision was the wisest for the members' sake and the show's sake. But the new dad was not totally persuaded.

"What about you? Don't you want to know with certainty whether or not you had an actual chance with her? Instead of wondering in ten year's time how things could've been different?"

Of course, he wanted to know! But if the feelings weren't mutual then he'd simply be putting another burden on top of Ji Hyo's shoulders. And he knew how much of a worrywart his noona was - how stressful her life was at the moment - he'd only be contributing to her shortening lifespan.

''Could've, might've, should've...'' Kwang Soo softly said, ''I am already familiar with those."

Haha shook his head and threw his hands in the air, vanquished, "If it's fine by you, then it's fine by me". Despite saying those words, he could not help but think that Kwang Soo was a stupid, stupid guy. He wanted to see the passion in his tall friend actually translate into concrete actions, rather than pitiful whines about not wanting to destroy the balance in his relationship with Ji Hyo. But not everyone was like him; Ha Dong Hoon was more on the brash side when it came to love. He knew that Kwang Soo couldn't be as assertive as himself, after all, Lee Kwang Soo was the definition of soft-hearted, family-oriented, morally-upright, and everything in between. 

Haha glanced at his crestfallen friend and patted the latter's shoulder, ''Come on, let's forget about that. Everything will work out eventually.''

The former runway model managed a small crooked smile and stepped back into the shoot, but not before going back into character, the one bestowed upon him by the Variety Gods.