It’s Monday morning when I arrive at the location for Running Man’s filming. The staff is gathered outside a building, ready to film the opening of today’s show, but they are filming an empty location. “Good morning,” I greet them politely, bowing my way to the location after they have put on the microphone on me. “Am I the first one to arrive?” “Today you are the first one to arrive,” the producer answers and I nod while I glance around, being told where to stand and I feel awkward being the only one to be filmed by such a large staff. For today’s filming I am wearing a pair of hidden wedge platform sneakers in a calm beige colour, a pair of blue distressed skinny jeans to a washed pink star print t-shirt and to that I am wearing a black stripe-trim loose-fit baseball jacket. The next person comes within minutes though, making me happy to not have all the cameras focused on me and I politely stand ready to bow to the person who will come out of the van. My heed lowers right away in a polite greeting seeing the tall Giraffe also known as Lee Kwangsoo arrive with the talkative Yoo Jaesuk coming out of the van behind. “OH!” Kwangsoo burst out with his whole arm pointing out at me, looking like the highest tower standing at the centre among family houses. “It’s Hannah!” Yoo Jaesuk cheers while getting his microphone on. “Yo Hannah!” I laugh at their reactions to see me and I bow at them again. “Good morning,” I greet them. Kwangsoo begins doing some weird dance before hurrying over to greet me. “You’re the guest today?” he asks me, offering his hand to shake mine. “Um, yes…” I say and then bow at Yoo Jaesuk coming up behind Kwangsoo. “Good morning.” “Good morning, Hannah,” he friendly says and shakes my hand firmly, always talking clear and direct. As a fan of Running Man I know they always get extra happy when knowing there are female guests, but I would like to think I am more familiar with them than a pretty actress or top idol rookie who they always treat the best they can. Actresses are treated better and better with years while idols are treated the best when they have just debuted. Which means I am one of the old ones now; an old idol of seven years. Jaesuk continues to say; “You came here early. The guests usually arrive late.” “Ah…” I nod at him with a smile. Kwangsoo says that someone is coming so Jaesuk step up on my left side, Kwangsoo stays on my right, and I feel short standing between them. “It’s Jongkook,” Yoo Jaesuk says and chuckles. “He looks funny today for some reason.” I bow politely when muscle man Kim Jongkook spots me and his voice can be heard from a distance when asking if 5 Pieces’ Hannah is joining them today. He is in a hurry to get his microphone on to come over and greet me, he too shakes my hand and asks if I have been well. “Hannah is doing really well lately,” Yoo Jaesuk comments when the three of them stands there with me, waiting for the others to come. It’s morning. I want to quietly sit in a corner and wake up though I have been awake for over two hours already as I got hair and makeup done at the saloon but I am still not fully awake so standing here with the talkative three members of Running Man, I do hope other guests will arrive soon since they will make me talk otherwise. The cold I have received is the same as yesterday, my throat hurts a bit more in the morning but if it’s like yesterday it will get better during the day. “You have released a new song too,” Jaesuk continues to say and I nod, “the ballad you wrote…” “Ah-ah, [The Thread],” I start laughing as I thought he was talking about my album. “Yes, it is a really good song.” Out of nowhere Kwangsoo starts singing the song at the top of his lungs, giving me a shock and right away Jaesuk and Jongkook scolds and “punishes” Kwangsoo for being a nuisance. I just laugh at them, just to hear someone ask what we are doing and I bow to greet the only female member of Running Man, the pretty actress Song Jihyo. “Oh, Hannah is here,” she spots when coming over to us, and she response to my bow by giving one in return as I bow to her another one time since she didn’t see the first one. The next guest arrives and as soon as I see him I am reminded of the conversation I had with Suk-Chun yesterday, about staying in touch with the people I worked on in the drama Midnight Dream. Mat Park is here, tall and handsome as always, he looks as foreign as his name though he is Korean. I didn’t know he was coming and I haven’t seen him in some time so I can’t help but to feel this joy grow inside as I think it will be fun to meet like this; working but we might be able to catch up in between the filming. “Hello!” he politely greets everyone when coming up to us, hearing the Running Man members repeating his name and saying he is handsome, showing a calmer reaction than when greeting me. When he spots me he looks just as surprised as I am and Yoo Jaesuk puts his hand on my back. “You two know each other?” “Yes, yes,” Mat answers happily, politely shaking everyone’s hand one by one before Jaesuk makes him dive in next to me, pushing Kwangsoo away. “We worked together on a drama once.” “Aah…” “Are you close?” Jongkook asks, “Because Kwangsoo has had a crush on Hannah for forever. He might get jealous today…” “Hey!” Kwangsoo complains and I just laugh again. Jaesuk asks the question again, if we are close, and I don’t know if we are close because Mat isn’t on top of the list among people I hang out with on my free-time but before I can sort out what to answer, Mat has already said we are pretty close. I want to tell him that I met Suk-Chun yesterday and he wants us all to go to his restaurant soon, but I don’t say that now. The old man Ji Suk Jin and the short Haha arrive too before 4 Minute’s Hyuna and Jiyoon arrives, and then Gary is the last one, stumbling over to us when seeing who the guests are. Hyuna greets me warmly and friendly, we both giggle when greeting each other, and I am very happy it is Jiyoon here with her instead of the others – I don’t mind Sohyun either, she is nice too. With everyone there the opening talk can begin; they talk and talk and talk, I smile and nod and smile. Running Man’s producer says we will be divided in three teams to do today’s missions and like always the talkative and enthusiastic members of Running Man are talking about who they would want to be in teams and so on, but the writers have already decided on the teams; Team 1: Jaesuk, Haha, Jihyo + Mat Team 2: Kwangsoo, Sukjin + Hannah Team 3: Gary, Jongkook + Jiyoon, Hyuna As a viewer of the program I realise what team I have joined and Jaesuk can’t help but to point out my dissatisfaction to be in the Traitor Group while Kwangsoo looks like heaven is looking down at him with a smile. Jiyoon loves being in Jongkook’s team too while Jaesuk points out that his team has Jihyo, but it would be fun if a female guest could join their team; adding that he doesn’t want to offend Mat who is the only male guest today. Everyone is commenting and cracking jokes, it is difficult to keep up with them all and all of a sudden the producer says we can go and I have no idea where we are going as all I have heard for the past fourteen minutes are jokes. I missed something in the explanation, I’m certain of it as everyone is heading away. Slowly I walk after them, just to follow without knowing anything. “Whoa, I really didn’t know you’d be here,” Mat laughs as he slows down his steps to walk next to me. “The same goes for you!” I burst out, repeating the surprise I felt when he arrived. “I haven’t seen you in a while, Oppa, how are things with you?” “I got work,” he answers with a laugh, “I’m even filming a movie this summer. My first one, so things are going well for me.” When I first met Mat Park in 2012 he was a good actor who still hadn’t gotten a role that made him shine, in Midnight Dream we played in a band and though he wasn’t part of the main triangle drama, he had the main role with the rest of us and we all got a lot of attention because the drama was popular among teenagers with music and love and drama and friendship, and after that he has continued working with side roles as the popular bad boy’s friend or brother or the handsome one at work and so on. He has interesting parts; I have watched a few of his dramas. He might not be recognized on the streets but I’m certain people are taking more and more notice of him; especially since he is on Running Man now. It turns out everyone is heading to a bus to go to the next location together, so Mat and I keep talking heading to the bus. He might not be one of the close friends of mine but he is a friend and I am certain that if I would spot him on the street I would not hesitate to run up to him. Because some go to their vans or managers first, it takes time for everyone to get on the bus. Half of the bus is filled with staff while we sit down in the back to be filmed together. I sit down in the very back next to the window, the best seat, and Mat sits down in front of me as we continue to talk while everyone gets on the bus. “You haven’t met since the drama ended?” Jaesuk asks as he takes the seat next to Mat. Since I am sitting in the very back there is four more seats on my right; Kwangsoo and Sukjin sits down next to me, letting two from the other team sit to the right. “The drama ended three years ago; we have had dinner and met a couple of times afterwards,” Mat answers, “But all of us are pretty busy so it’s difficult to find time when everyone can meet.” “When was the last time you met then?” All I can think of is last year, in July, I think, when we had a party at the house and Mat was there. Yes, I remember clearly how he walked around the next morning with a hangover, missing his pants. With one look at him I wonder if that is the reason he suddenly laughs. “I don’t think we have seen each other since last year,” he points out and I nod. “At the end of the summer,” I add on and now I know or sure he is with me on the memory when he suddenly starts laughing and even sits up as to tell me to be quiet about that. I look behind him to see if the cameras are rolling and I smile widely when seeing that the cameras are indeed rolling. Jaesuk laughs at how cautious I am of the cameras but gets very curious over our reaction, wondering what we did last year. “He got drunk,” I say and point at Mat who laughs. “Hannah got drunk too,” he says and I join him in the laughing. Just the two of us remembering the party, where I in the morning didn’t even remember he had been there. “We were celebrating Hannah’s birthday and she won over some male idols in arm-wrestling.” “You saw that?” I gape at him. Jaesuk laughs and claps his hands. “Who did you win over?” he wants to know. I can’t even remember who I won over. I remember I played against Taemin and Kai, and Jonghyun… who did I win over? “I can’t answer that without hurting someone’s feelings,” I answer with a laugh. “You didn’t do it?” Jaesuk asks Mat who shakes his head. “Is everybody here?” the producer calls out in the bus and they turn around to face the front. I see that Hyuna is the last one to take her seat while we say everyone is here. We have just continued with the official filming (when getting on the bus the staff was setting the cameras too so I don’t think they were filming when we got on) when Jaesuk comments, pointing at me and Mat; “These two have talked nonstop since we finished the opening.” I laugh behind my hand that he has to bring it up for everyone. “They are really close,” he adds. “I didn’t know Hannah would be here,” Mat confesses, “So I got a surprise seeing her.” I nod in agreement and then laugh when Mat looks back at me, greeting me again as a friend. “It is Mat’s first time on Running Man… do Hannah have any advice to give him, as she has been on our show a few times before?” Jaesuk asks and since the question is directed to me, I look at him for a few seconds, thinking of any advice to give Mat on his first time. “Maybe he should be the one giving her advice,” Hyuna jokes from the other side of the backseats, “I saw Hannah didn’t know we were getting on the bus earlier.” “You caught that?” I laugh the same time the others are confused with what she means. Hyuna and I exchange words with everyone between us asking what we mean, I am just laughing because Hyuna spotted me just briefly when I got a confused expression having everyone move earlier. So I don’t give Mat any advice, instead they start talking about the guests – not about me, because we have already talked about me before everyone arrived. Everyone keeps talking until the bus stops for the first location and we are told of the first mission while sitting in the bus. The PD explains the mission by saying each team will draw a lot with three different missions that we need to finish. I don’t keep up with what the others get for mission, I am too busy holding our own card to try read it and really understand it. ‘Karaoke Mission: Attract 15 strangers on the street and make them sing along to the song’. Leaving the bus, my team is given a small karaoke machine and a microphone (it looks like a toy) and we are told which direction to go. I am confused but I wave at the others and lower my head when wishing them good luck on their missions. All of us go three different directions and as soon as we have left I hear Sukjin say I should do the singing. The karaoke machine is pulled in a trolley. “Are we going to tell fifteen people to come and sing with us?” I ask, not really understanding the game. I am given the microphone, holding it with both of my hands as we are slowly walking. The streets aren’t crowded, there are a few people there and everyone glances at us and some squeals in surprise but no one look like they have any time to join us for singing. “No, we’re supposed to… sing on the karaoke machine and attract fifteen people,” Kwangsoo tells me. I don’t know what ‘attract’ means, but I nod as in saying I understand, which I don’t. Sing on the karaoke, that’s all I understand, so when they start playing the music on the karaoke, I start singing. They play my own song, [New Me], Kwangsoo says it is good for promotions and I sing as I’m told. First I do it quietly, but Kwangsoo and Sukjin gets loud next to me so I too get a bit excited as I start to sing louder and the people that I see, I tell them to come with us, to sing with us, saying the same things as my two teammates. The best part for me is when Kwangsoo starts dancing, it is hilarious to see him move; all tall and strange, and I fall apart from laughing which makes Sukjin telling him to stop dancing as I have to focus on singing. Sukjin doesn’t do much, he tells people to come and sing with us but no one seems to care and when [New Me] ends it is Kwangsoo who starts to play the next song. It feels like Roommate all over again; they play 5 Pieces’ songs for me to sing. [BLAME] because it is popular, then they play [POWER UP] in hope people will recognize the songs. When [POWER UP] starts to play we have gotten a small crowd, Kwangsoo and Sukjin are doing their best to get people pumped up, but again Kwangsoo is mostly just dancing weirdly for the crowd to last year’s hit song and I am dancing a bit (I do the right choreography) while singing, slightly hoping the crowd will start to follow. They cheer and applause, even when I ask them to sing along. Among the crowd I see a younger girl, not even in her teens yet, and I sing my way over to her, until I reach the microphone out. I continue to sing but for the microphone I have it for her to sing, and yes, I feel such joy when she starts singing the song and Kwangsoo roars happily too. I move my hands for others to sing along too and it doesn’t take long until we have 23 people singing with us. Mission succeeded! Just for that, they play my new song for me to perform it for the people and to promote myself a bit more. My voice gets so horribly tired from that. I sang for almost half an hour to finish the mission. The missions after, my two team mates keep commenting that I got tired from singing too much: there is nothing wrong with my condition, but my voice is a bit tired so they keep mentioning it. And Kwangsoo points also out after a few hours of missions and games that I keep asking for an explanation after each mission is said by the PD. In other words, the PD speaks too difficult for me to understand – ending up with Kwangsoo blaming the PD instead of saying my Korean isn’t that good. The bus takes us to one of the last locations after running around the whole day. We are all hungry for dinner when arriving at the mud pit and by then I find myself just gaping. I have never been in mud before. All the teams gather around the place the staff has dug to create for the mud pit after we have changed clothes with orange boots going all the way up to our thighs, even pants, gloves and a jacket has been offered. While the PD starting explaining the game, all I do is look down at the mud pit. It looks like brown water to me. “So we should try to not have our own name tags on our back,” Yoo Jaesuk says and I look up at him and the others, realising I haven’t been paying attention. “Find the other team’s name tag in the mud and put it on the owner’s back. If you are the last one without a nametag, you win,” the PD confirms and I glance over at Kwangsoo and Sukjin. Where do we find the name tags? “Are all the nametags in the mud?” Jiyoon asks. The comments and laughter following her question makes me happy I didn’t ask mine out loud. It is good that guests are pretty much the same at this show, asking questions to make sure we understand the game. “Name one from each team to go first. Because Sukjin’s team only have three members, one of them will play two times,” the PD comments. That’s my team. Kwangsoo standing next to me suddenly falls forward, and it is so sudden that I gape at first, seeing him fall into the mud and I see Yoo Jaesuk behind us – the one who pushed Kwan