“Are you sure about this, Jess?” Jiyong asked, concern lining his beautiful face as he watched Jessica pull her silky hair into a high ponytail.

“For the last time, Jiyong, I’ll be fine.  I can handle a little bit of hiking,” Jessica said with an amused but appreciative smile. 

“But you don’t do physical activity.  It’s not in your nature.”

“Which is exactly why I should start now.  You know, expand my horizons and gain new hobbies.  What would you do if exercising became my new hobby?”

Jiyong laughed and then gave Jessica a bewildered look when he realized she was being serious, “I would probably have to start exercising too, since I can’t have my girl be more muscular than me.”

Jessica laughed then walked over to Jiyong and wrapped her arms around his neck, “then I guess we’re in this together.”

“I guess so,” Jiyong muttered with a pout.

“It’ll be fun!  We’ll become healthy together,” Jessica encouraged, looking into his deep brown eyes.

“Just don’t hurt yourself,” Jiyong said sincerely, causing Jessica to smile and kiss his cheek softly.

“Yo, it’s just hiking.  Relax man,” Taeyang teased as he walked over to them hand-in-hand with Hyorin. 

“But it is uphill and Jessica has never gone hiking before,” Krystal interjected from inside the girls’ tent.

“Who said that?” Hyorin asked, startled. 

“And it’s a 4 kilometer trail,” Seungri added from inside the boys’ tent.

“Okay, can people please show themselves when they’re speaking, it’s really confusing,” Hyorin said looking distraught, but she was ignored by everyone except for Taeyang who smiled and kissed her hand.

“I can handle 4 kilometers, Seungri.  One time, in New York, my car broke down when I was at the beach so I walked to back to my hotel and that was 4.5 km,” Jessica announced proudly.

Jiyong erupted in laughter at that while Taeyang and Hyorin tried to supress their smiles.

“What?” Jessica asked in confusion.

“It’s 4 kilometers to the top of the trail, but it’s also 4 kilometers to get back down.  So, by my calculations, you’re going to be hiking for a grand total of 8 kilometers,” Daesung announced with a smug smile as he exited the tent and walked over with a bottle of mosquito repellent.

Jessica’s mouth dropped open and she gaped at Jiyong, “EIGHT KILOMETERS?”

Jiyong laughed and gave her a side-hug, “that’s why I was worried.”

“Well I guess you’re going to have to carry me on the way down,” Jessica said playfully, causing Jiyong to groan.

“Here’s some Mosquito repellent to make life easier,” Daesung said and tossed the bottle to Jiyong.

“Thanks bae,” Jiyong said after catching the bottle of mosquito repellent lotion.

“Hey, I’m your bae,” Jessica reminded him with a pout. {bae= before all else}

Jiyong smirked and said, “I have more than one bae.”  Then he handed the bottle of lotion to Jessica and gestured for her to rub it on his body.

“Why don’t you ask your other baes to do it?” Jessica asked sarcastically but nevertheless squeezed some repellent onto her hands.  She began to rub the lotion on Jiyong’s toned body, starting with his shoulders and working her way down over his biceps.  They were standing close enough that Jessica could feel Jiyong’s body heat radiating towards her and her chest gently grazing his at the slightest movement.  It surprised Jessica how his proximity always had an effect on her, even after all the years they’d spent together.  Her heart would always pound extra quickly, an unintentional flush would overcome her cheeks and she would unknowingly hold her breath for a couple seconds every time he was near.  There was the physical aspect of his presence, but there was also the internal feeling she always had of this deep, inexplicable love she had for him.  With every touch, he set a fire in her that hyper sensitized all her senses and made it easy to fall into the all-consuming feeling that was Kwon Jiyong.  Currently, as her hands felt Jiyong’s hard biceps, Jessica was trying to focus and refrain from looking up into his chocolate brown eyes; because then, it would really be game over.

“There’s that blush I love,” Jiyong murmured as he traced Jessica’s cheek lightly with his thumb.

“That’s makeup,” Jessica replied nonchalantly, not looking up as she continued to knead the repellent onto his forearms.

“Really?  I don’t remember it being there 2 minutes ago,” Jiyong teased with a smirk, bringing his face purposefully closer to hers.

“Must be the lighting,” Jessica replied casually, “and can you pleas