A month later, Jihyo and Jongkook found themselves back in Seoul. It had been a busy month. November was always busy, as production crews tried to squeeze in two months’ worth of content just so they can have little to no taping days during the holiday season. It was worse for top celebrities like Jihyo and Jongkook.

Jihyo was smart enough not to take on drama or film projects during the latter part of the year, but that was really because she had to make time for the CF and press shoots she had. She was established enough to keep a stable brand ranking across the variety and acting categories, so she had a steady stream of companies that asked her to endorse their products. It was less of a mindwork for Jihyo, as she had not taken on social media, so she didn’t really have to think of her content. But that also meant that she was at the mercy of the agencies who ideate how she would endorse their products, and, in Jihyo’s case, that mostly meant photoshoots, press features, and filming of video commercials.

Jongkook, on the other hand, had to make guest appearances in numerous talk shows, as they had anticipated. Soon enough, the Daesang nominations came out, and that meant that he was once again in the roster of people talk shows were interested in. It shouldn’t have been much of an issue, but he still had his variety show taping schedule for multiple shows and he was also in the middle of preparing for the release of his new song for December. On top of all of this, of course, he had to take time to go to the gym. It was a whirlwind of a month, specially for him.

Jihyo and Jongkook decided it might be more prudent to pull back a bit on their dates. For the past couple of months they had been dating, they were able to make time for each other multiple times in a week, but November was a different monster altogether. The one thing they decided to keep constant was their early morning bike ride along the Han River, mostly for practical reasons. It kept them in shape and allowed them to save time from having to hit the gym or go for a run. Plus, it gave them time to spend with each other without the scrutiny of the people who hung out at the gym. 

On the last Friday of the month, Jihyo found herself rushing to Jongkook’s apartment to make it in time for their bicycle date. A photoshoot had gone totally off-schedule, and they were only able to wrap up close to one in the morning, and the shoot had been outside of Seoul. Jihyo asked her manager to go directly to Jongkook’s place, and that was how she found herself entering his passcode on his door at a bit over two-thirty that morning.

Jongkook was surprised at the sound of beeping from his door, as he was blending his morning protein shake to start the day. Jihyo came in, clad in a beautiful black dress. It had a modest design, covering her sleeves and stopping at her mid-knee for its length, but the fact that it was silk meant that it hugged her figure nicely. Jongkook had to swallow to rein himself in, but one look at her annoyed face distracted him enough to . “Last I checked, silk dresses don’t make comfortable outfits for cycling,” he said, before taking a gulp of his protein shake straight from the blender.

He haphazardly left a bit of the drink on the corner of his lips, which Jihyo reached out to remove with her hand before it off her thumb. “Why you like this stuff will never make sense to me,” she back before explaining her attire. “I went here directly after my shoot. We went overtime, but I’ve held this contract for so long already. It felt too demanding to just walk out on them, even if they had a mishap.”

“We could’ve rescheduled if you didn’t have enough time,” Jongkook prodded.

“Ani,” Jihyo immediately rejected the suggestion. “We rarely meet nowadays. Plus I really do want to go cycling.”

“Well, we have our spare bicycles in each other’s apartments for a reason. But I guess we didn’t consider the wardrobe,” he chuckled.

“Look at you! You’re warming up to the idea of having more than one bicycle,” she pinched his arm, to no avail of course. 

A few months back, she found a new bicycle she wanted to buy, which she showed Jongkook. Ever the frugal man, he questioned the need to get another bicycle when theirs were still working properly, and suggested that, if they were buying new bicycles, it was time to get rid of their current ones. However, Jihyo didn’t budge, because her bicycle had been a gift from Seungmoon and held sentimental value. But this didn’t preclude her from wanting the new model that she wanted to buy, primarily due to its features. So, to get her way, she said it would be more convenient to keep an extra bicycle in each other’s apartment so that they can conveniently go cycling whenever they want, without having to cross the river to drive to both Jongkook’s place near Gangnam and Jihyo’s apartment in Mapo-gu. “It would save us gas money,” she had cheekily argued back then. For some reason, it worked, and both of them bought the new model for themselves. Jihyo left her extra bicycle at his place, while Jongkook kept his at her house.

“Ha ha… very funny…” he resorted to sarcasm. “Regardless, you can’t wear a dress and heels on a bike.”

“Ara, Oppa. But what am I supposed to do? It doesn’t make sense to run all the way back to Mapo-gu to change my outfit! Can’t I just borrow your clothes?”

The image of Jihyo in one of his black shirts and shorts made Jongkook smile, but he quickly remembered how they would fit on her. “Yah, you just agreed you can’t wear a dress on a bike. That’s how my shirt will look on you. Plus, I doubt I have anything there that could fit you…” he thoughtfully said, until he hit a eureka. “Ha!!!” he suddenly exclaimed, surprising Jihyo as he made his way into his room.

Jihyo was glued to her spot, waiting for Jongkook to explain what was happening. She found him walking back, with a box in hand. “Tiny-hyeong says hi,” he said as he passed on the box to Jihyo. She quickly opened the flaps of the box, and inside she saw packets of what seemed to be sweatshirts. She walked over to Jongkook’s couch, with him trailing behind her, and they both sat down as Jihyo inspected the parcel.

“They’re sweatshirt-sweatpant sets from Happy Planet. I may have accidentally told Hyeong that you stole my hoodie back in Jeju, so he sent you your own set and some other stuff too,” he explained as she opened and examined the packages containing the clothes. “You can probably wear one of these?”

Jihyo was less concerned about her cycling outfit than she was engrossed in what she just received. “These really look nice and cozy, Oppa. I’ll go ahead and wear this,” she said, taking out a gray-colored set. “Now, we just have to find some shoes I can wear… What about that matching pair that we have?” she thoughtfully said as she wal