More Than They Seem
Title: More Than They Seem
Fandom: Running Man
Pairing: Gen. Jihyo, Jongkook, and Kwangsoo -bromance
Notes: Written for yuletide 2013 for endymionic, originally posted at AO3. It was my first time writing for this fandom, and it was fun and interesting :)
---
Jihyo thinks she’s been watching too many Running Man episodes lately, because when she sees Kim Jong Kook walk through the double doors of the room, she sees it playing before her in slow motion with the sound of drums and lions in the background.
“Morning,” he greets everyone. “Oh, we’re the first to arrive?” He directs his comment at the crew standing around, and Ji Hyo blinks, realizing that she should probably greet him back, “Good morning.”
“Yah, Jihyo’s not awake yet, “he jokes as he sits next to her and playfully nudges her to ‘wake her up.’
“The producers should really be more kind to her; she’s our Ace after all.”
The crew chuckle and smile at his remark, just as the tall, gangly, Prince of Asia stumbles in right after. “Good morning, everyone!”
The three gather in front of the cameras and the PD hands Kwangsoo the mission card.
Looking bewildered, he asks, “What -we’re already starting? The three of us on a team?”
Jongkook echoed his emotions, a mixture of confusion and excitement on his face.
“This is not going to go well,” Jihyo mutters under her breath, but she’s sure the production team will pick up on it and write the captions in anyway.
“There will be no guest today,” Kwangsoo reads. “In honor of our upcoming anniversary, your mission today is…” he pauses for dramatic effect, “the traditional hide-and-seek battle! You are the seeking team, though the other members will not know this. The same rules apply -be the first to rip the opponents’ name tags off and win. However, beware of the secret weapon hidden on each floor of this building. Whoever finds it first can use it to their advantage. Good luck and enjoy the chase.”
Kwangsoo makes a very dramatic “O” with his face, beaming at his fellow team members with the kind of mischievous smile that he often wore when he was plotting. It was their first hide-and-seek game in awhile, and they had never had the opportunity to work together like this.
The PD calls the cameras to cut for a moment so he could hand each person their notes for the day’s shoot; what themes to hit on, what gags the writers have sketched out in case the opportunity presented itself, etc. The three Running Man members sit down to run through their roles for the day. Meanwhile, one camera is kept rolling as the other crew rearrange the set.
“They’re going to use this clip in the middle of the show, aren’t they?” Jihyo points out. “The other members are going to show up any minute now, and this is when it truly begins.”
“We need a code word or something to help us keep in touch. I figure we’re going to be split up into different teams, right PD-nim?” Jongkook asks.
The director nods and proceeds to hand them walkie-talkies. “Use frequency 3. The others will be on 1.”
“I know we just started shooting and it might be too early to say, but I feel like the set-up is too easy,” Jongkook says, feeling suspicious.
Jihyo chimes in, “Yeah, there’s probably some cool twist that we haven’t seen yet. If I could run through the different times where we thought we were on one team, but really we’re on different teams…or there really is a guest,” she ends the sentence and eyes the crew suspiciously to see if she can catch anyone who is bad at lying. But who is she kidding; they’ve all mastered the art of tricking their cast members by now.
“Wow, the two of you together -it’s kind of scary,” Kwangsoo says.
Jongkook swats at the younger man, but he evades by jumping out of his chair. But where Jongkook was too far to reach, Jihyo lunges after him and punches him on the arm several times. Laughing nervously, Kwangsoo whines, “Ah Hyuuung, nooona…”
The two leave him standing there as he mumbles something along the lines of, “What am I? Chopped liver?”
Of course, Jihyo’s always sharp on her feet and responds, “No, you’re the eternal betrayer. At some point, you’ll come in handy, even if it’s only to benefit yourself.”
“It’ll give the audience a good laugh.”
Kwangsoo fakes feeling hurt. “You always assume the worst of me. How do you know if my plans, whatever they are, are not going to benefit all of us and who’s going to laugh then?”
“See, he’s already plotting.” Jihyo says, shaking her head, but smiling widely at Jongkook. The maknae is always so easy to pick on. He gets up and abruptly grabs Kwangsoo in a chokehold, pretending to try and knock some sense into him, and they end up mock wrestling on the ground for a couple minutes.
Jihyo watches, laughing at the view in front of her. She doesn’t quite understand guys and their so called ‘bromance,’ but with Jongkook and Kwangsoo, she can see sort of see why. They were overly rough and would childishly fight in front of the camera, but she knew that was mostly an act. Even now, as the guys were still lying on the ground catching their breath and talking about how their nights were (it’s only been 8 hours since they’ve seen each other), she sees this unlikely pair is most certainly because there is a balance. Off screen, Kwangsoo is a bit more mellow and deep, while Jongkook is a bit wilder. But even the greatest actors can’t hide their underlying friendship from the cameras. She knows that their dynamic will play a part in the game today and wonders how she’ll fit in. She wonders if perhaps the twist would be these two guys against her -the unlikely pair -that’s what they’ll call them. Actually, she doesn’t doubt Kwangsoo will at least attempt to orchestrate that to happen, but she also knows that her partnership with Jongkook is just as strong.
“Yah, you’re dangerous when you’re silent,” Jongkook says, getting up from the floor.
Jihyo smiles, “Really?”
“Noona, how can you be so scary with that pretty smile of yours?”
She doesn’t let on that she’s been thinking too much, and continues smiling, making him take a step back.
People in the entertainment industry, especially variety tv shows, know that a lot of their work comes from making things funny, dramatic, and elaborate, so that audiences are never bored or know exactly what’s coming. But that also means that the people within really have to think on their feet. It’s a skill they’ve learned (or are learning to master), and there’s also skill in knowing when a moment needs no words.
“Mong-ji strikes again,” Kwangsoo comments.
She’ll play into this image, because she knows it’s an advantage. She really is a bit scary, she thinks and laughs out loud. The viewers will surely see this as her being ditzy, but she knows better.
The cameras continue to secretly roll; or rather they are forgotten behind the hustle and bustle of the crew. You never know when you’ll get the perfect shot, comment, or behind-the-scenes footage. The members know that, so they’ve gotten used to ignoring the red dots, so much so, that right now, the filming crew were truly capturing the deep, genuine friendships between three people.
“We’re going to move on to the next room,” the director states. “The other members are already waiting.”
The trio exchange nervous and excited looks, and stand up.
Before they walk out, Kwangsoo stops them and shouts, “Lee!”
Jihyo looks to Jongkook out of the corner of her eye, knowing exactly what’s coming. “Song!”
“Kim.” He can’t believe he’s doing this.
“No, no, no, you guys are doing it all wrong. Now, faster and with more enthusiasm,” Kwangsoo urges.
They huddle closer and put their hands forward. “Lee! Song! Kim! CROSS!”
Let the games begin.
Fandom: Running Man
Pairing: Gen. Jihyo, Jongkook, and Kwangsoo -bromance
Notes: Written for yuletide 2013 for endymionic, originally posted at AO3. It was my first time writing for this fandom, and it was fun and interesting :)
---
Jihyo thinks she’s been watching too many Running Man episodes lately, because when she sees Kim Jong Kook walk through the double doors of the room, she sees it playing before her in slow motion with the sound of drums and lions in the background.
“Morning,” he greets everyone. “Oh, we’re the first to arrive?” He directs his comment at the crew standing around, and Ji Hyo blinks, realizing that she should probably greet him back, “Good morning.”
“Yah, Jihyo’s not awake yet, “he jokes as he sits next to her and playfully nudges her to ‘wake her up.’
“The producers should really be more kind to her; she’s our Ace after all.”
The crew chuckle and smile at his remark, just as the tall, gangly, Prince of Asia stumbles in right after. “Good morning, everyone!”
The three gather in front of the cameras and the PD hands Kwangsoo the mission card.
Looking bewildered, he asks, “What -we’re already starting? The three of us on a team?”
Jongkook echoed his emotions, a mixture of confusion and excitement on his face.
“This is not going to go well,” Jihyo mutters under her breath, but she’s sure the production team will pick up on it and write the captions in anyway.
“There will be no guest today,” Kwangsoo reads. “In honor of our upcoming anniversary, your mission today is…” he pauses for dramatic effect, “the traditional hide-and-seek battle! You are the seeking team, though the other members will not know this. The same rules apply -be the first to rip the opponents’ name tags off and win. However, beware of the secret weapon hidden on each floor of this building. Whoever finds it first can use it to their advantage. Good luck and enjoy the chase.”
Kwangsoo makes a very dramatic “O” with his face, beaming at his fellow team members with the kind of mischievous smile that he often wore when he was plotting. It was their first hide-and-seek game in awhile, and they had never had the opportunity to work together like this.
The PD calls the cameras to cut for a moment so he could hand each person their notes for the day’s shoot; what themes to hit on, what gags the writers have sketched out in case the opportunity presented itself, etc. The three Running Man members sit down to run through their roles for the day. Meanwhile, one camera is kept rolling as the other crew rearrange the set.
“They’re going to use this clip in the middle of the show, aren’t they?” Jihyo points out. “The other members are going to show up any minute now, and this is when it truly begins.”
“We need a code word or something to help us keep in touch. I figure we’re going to be split up into different teams, right PD-nim?” Jongkook asks.
The director nods and proceeds to hand them walkie-talkies. “Use frequency 3. The others will be on 1.”
“I know we just started shooting and it might be too early to say, but I feel like the set-up is too easy,” Jongkook says, feeling suspicious.
Jihyo chimes in, “Yeah, there’s probably some cool twist that we haven’t seen yet. If I could run through the different times where we thought we were on one team, but really we’re on different teams…or there really is a guest,” she ends the sentence and eyes the crew suspiciously to see if she can catch anyone who is bad at lying. But who is she kidding; they’ve all mastered the art of tricking their cast members by now.
“Wow, the two of you together -it’s kind of scary,” Kwangsoo says.
Jongkook swats at the younger man, but he evades by jumping out of his chair. But where Jongkook was too far to reach, Jihyo lunges after him and punches him on the arm several times. Laughing nervously, Kwangsoo whines, “Ah Hyuuung, nooona…”
The two leave him standing there as he mumbles something along the lines of, “What am I? Chopped liver?”
Of course, Jihyo’s always sharp on her feet and responds, “No, you’re the eternal betrayer. At some point, you’ll come in handy, even if it’s only to benefit yourself.”
“It’ll give the audience a good laugh.”
Kwangsoo fakes feeling hurt. “You always assume the worst of me. How do you know if my plans, whatever they are, are not going to benefit all of us and who’s going to laugh then?”
“See, he’s already plotting.” Jihyo says, shaking her head, but smiling widely at Jongkook. The maknae is always so easy to pick on. He gets up and abruptly grabs Kwangsoo in a chokehold, pretending to try and knock some sense into him, and they end up mock wrestling on the ground for a couple minutes.
Jihyo watches, laughing at the view in front of her. She doesn’t quite understand guys and their so called ‘bromance,’ but with Jongkook and Kwangsoo, she can see sort of see why. They were overly rough and would childishly fight in front of the camera, but she knew that was mostly an act. Even now, as the guys were still lying on the ground catching their breath and talking about how their nights were (it’s only been 8 hours since they’ve seen each other), she sees this unlikely pair is most certainly because there is a balance. Off screen, Kwangsoo is a bit more mellow and deep, while Jongkook is a bit wilder. But even the greatest actors can’t hide their underlying friendship from the cameras. She knows that their dynamic will play a part in the game today and wonders how she’ll fit in. She wonders if perhaps the twist would be these two guys against her -the unlikely pair -that’s what they’ll call them. Actually, she doesn’t doubt Kwangsoo will at least attempt to orchestrate that to happen, but she also knows that her partnership with Jongkook is just as strong.
“Yah, you’re dangerous when you’re silent,” Jongkook says, getting up from the floor.
Jihyo smiles, “Really?”
“Noona, how can you be so scary with that pretty smile of yours?”
She doesn’t let on that she’s been thinking too much, and continues smiling, making him take a step back.
People in the entertainment industry, especially variety tv shows, know that a lot of their work comes from making things funny, dramatic, and elaborate, so that audiences are never bored or know exactly what’s coming. But that also means that the people within really have to think on their feet. It’s a skill they’ve learned (or are learning to master), and there’s also skill in knowing when a moment needs no words.
“Mong-ji strikes again,” Kwangsoo comments.
She’ll play into this image, because she knows it’s an advantage. She really is a bit scary, she thinks and laughs out loud. The viewers will surely see this as her being ditzy, but she knows better.
The cameras continue to secretly roll; or rather they are forgotten behind the hustle and bustle of the crew. You never know when you’ll get the perfect shot, comment, or behind-the-scenes footage. The members know that, so they’ve gotten used to ignoring the red dots, so much so, that right now, the filming crew were truly capturing the deep, genuine friendships between three people.
“We’re going to move on to the next room,” the director states. “The other members are already waiting.”
The trio exchange nervous and excited looks, and stand up.
Before they walk out, Kwangsoo stops them and shouts, “Lee!”
Jihyo looks to Jongkook out of the corner of her eye, knowing exactly what’s coming. “Song!”
“Kim.” He can’t believe he’s doing this.
“No, no, no, you guys are doing it all wrong. Now, faster and with more enthusiasm,” Kwangsoo urges.
They huddle closer and put their hands forward. “Lee! Song! Kim! CROSS!”
Let the games begin.