Law Of The Jungle ~ Lee Gikwang
The moment you stepped into the airport, noticing a swarm of crew waiting to greet you, you knew there was no turning back. With a smile on your face, you made your way over, being met by the producer of the episode who introduced you to each member of staff.
“And this is Gikwang,” he announced, introducing you to the last famous face you’d be appearing on the show with. “He’s a part of Highlight, I’m sure you’ll have heard a few of his songs on the radio.”
Of course,” you smiled, waving goodbye to the producer before looking across to Gikwang who stood before you. “Please tell me you’re as nervous as I am about what sort of things are about to be thrown our way?”
His head nodded, “I thought it was just me, I’m terrified.”
“Definitely not, who knows what’s about to happen.”
A quiet chuckle came from him as you told Gikwang about yourself, surprised when he informed you that he had in fact heard your name before. The two of you stayed alongside each other as you waited to be called to the terminal and head off to the island you’d be filming on.
Walking down the middle of the plane, you were unsurprised your seat sat right next to Gikwang who was already waiting to fly. “Don’t worry, I’ve heard the flying is the easy part, it’s what comes after that you should worry about.”
“You really know how to make someone feel better.”
Gikwang smiled back at you, moving his phone off the seat that was yours, making plenty of room for you to take a seat. You kept a small distance between you both as you put your seatbelt on, looking past his figure so that you could get a good look out of the window.
“It’s been a while since I left Korea, that’s why I came, for the adventure really.”
“That’s nice,” you smiled back at him, “my manager told me it would be good for my career, I think the contract was signed before I even had a chance to look over it.”
“That’s the business for you,” Gikwang acknowledged, making himself comfortable too, “don’t worry, I’ll look after you over the past few days, your company might stitch you up, but I won’t.”
Your head nodded, bowing gently down to him, “I appreciate that, but I’m sure I can handle myself. My company must see something in me to put me forwards to be on the show.”
“Profit, that all it ever is, I’ve learnt that the hard way, but you get used to it.”
You sat and listened to much of Gikwang’s advice during the plane journey, hearing the ins and outs of his career and all the experiences he’d had. Some of his stories were incredibly insightful for you, although you’d heard plenty about Highlight before, there were so many details about their careers that you’d never found out about until now.
The two of you were so lost in your conversation, you barely noticed that the plane had landed, as the members of crew began to file out, making sure that all of the stars of the show followed behind them, keeping them safe from everyone.
“I can’t remember the last time I was able to walk out from an airport without fans waiting for me.”
“I reckon it won’t take long before people know that we’re here,” you replied back to Gikwang.
His head quickly nodded in agreement, letting you walk ahead of him as you stepped off the plane, gasping at the heat that struck you. Whilst you’d been told to prepare for warmer climates, you never expected one as warm as the one you walked into.
“Still feeling like this is a good idea?” Gikwang questioned, quickly taking of his jacket as he too tried to combat the sweltering heat. “We’ll have fun and get a good tan if nothing else.”
Your stomach was already sore with laughter from the plane ride with Gikwang, as another chuckle escaped from you, you clutched onto your side to try and keep yourself together. You’d never met someone who could make you laugh quite as much as him.
“If I’m not paired up with you, I think I’m going to be screwed you know,” you informed him as you walked towards the airport to grab your luggage.
His eyes looked back to you with a wide smile, “don’t worry, I’ve done this show before, I’m practically family. If I ask nicely enough, I’ll stick by your side.”
You remembered seeing a couple of the other Highlight members on the show before, slightly kicking yourself for missing out on Gikwang’s episode and not finding out about him sooner.
In just a matter of hours, you could tell you were going to be well looked after by him, and even if something terrible came your way, he was going to do his best to look after you.
“Are you coming?” A voice suddenly called out, unaware that you’d found yourself lost in your thoughts, quickly catching up with the man in front of you.
Your hand nervously scratched the top of your back, “sorry, I guess I was just trying to figure out what sort of things we could be doing in a place like this,” you lied.
“I wouldn’t try, whatever you think, I can guarantee we’ll end up doing the complete opposite,” he smiled, “this is exactly how these programmes work, I thought your company would’ve told you that.”
When your head shook back at him, Gikwang wasn’t surprised. He could tell from the very start that you’d been thrown in at the deep end by your company, feeling guilty for you, even if it was no fault of his own. He couldn’t stand by and let you drown though in amongst the others who were known variety stars, opting to take you under his wing.
You managed to keep up with his pace all the way through to baggage collection, waiting patiently for yours to arrive. “I remember last time I did this show, one of the women brought a huge suitcase, anyone would think she was staying for three weeks.”
“Really?” You squeaked, suddenly feeling your heart begin to race, “it would be stupid to back too much, but I guess it’s better to be too prepared than not prepared enough.”
“She’d bought first aid kits and everything, anyone would think we didn’t have a medical team on standby for those types of situations,” he chuckled.
Your head nodded as the travelator began to turn, feeling your cheeks flush red as a huge case came dropping down, carefully taking a few steps forwards and lifting up, unable to quite bring yourself to look across to Gikwang beside you.
“You’re one of those people, aren’t you?” He laughed, rolling his eyes at how tall your suitcase was as you stood it beside you. “Please tell me you’ve not got a first aid kit lying around in there too?”
“Oh, no,” you sniggered, “I’m not that bad, just bad enough that I’ve got five pairs of underwear in the top pocket for emergencies.”
“You really think that will help you in an emergency?”
Your head nodded, reluctantly tilting your head up to look at him, “like I said, better to be too prepared than not prepared enough, don’t you think?”
“Don’t worry, you’re prepared and safe with me.”
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