Jae Kyung arrived back at the apartment after another day of work. It was Thursday, which meant only one more day till the weekend, and she could finally breathe. Work life was hard, harder than she had expected, but she was slowly getting acquainted to it. Very slowly. At least she hadn't burned down the building like Joong Gi had predicted though. The thought put a smile on her face. Take that Joong Gi Oppa, she thought.

She headed over to the kitchen and started putting on a pot of water to boil for her ramen. It had been her dinner for the past few days since starting her 'married life' because it was one of the few things she could make and more importantly, afford. While sitting at the table and eating the cooked egg on top first, she received a call on her cell phone. From her caller ID, she knew it was her mother. "Yeah, mom?" she answered.

"Jae Kyung, how are you?" Mrs. Song asked.

"I'm fine, Mom," Jae Kyung replied, dragging out her words in her fatigue.

"Is Jun Hyung there?"

"He still hasn't come back from work."

"Oh really? He must be working hard. But I just wanted to make sure you're coming this weekend," Mrs. Song replied.

"This weekend?" Jae Kyung repeated in confusion.

"Don't you remember? It's the reunion," Mrs. Song explained.

Jae Kyung hit her forehead as she continued to listen to her mother. The Song Family Reunion. How could she forget the tradition that her family held every summer? The one where her relatives came to the house one Saturday in the summer and spent the day engaging in various competitive activities with each other.

"Not only that, you and Jun Hyung have yet to visit since you returned from Jeju Island. You know it's tradition that the bride and groom spend a night at the bride's parents' house after the honeymoon," Mrs. Song went on.

Jae Kyung inwardly groaned at the reminder. "Yeah, I remember," she answered in a tired voice.

"Good, then you and Jun Hyung should come tomorrow night and spend the weekend at the house. You can go back Sunday night," her mother instructed.

"Yes, Mom," Jae Kyung said with a sigh before bidding her goodbye. She put down her phone and started hitting her head against the table in frustration. How was she going to get Jun Hyung to agree to this? One night was already bad enough, but two nights? And on top of that, he would be attending the reunion and meeting her relatives?

"What are you doing?" Jun Hyung asked from the kitchen entrance. He had just come back from work and was holding a bag with takeout in his hand.

Jae Kyung stopped banging her head and looked up at him. He walked over and sat down at the table, taking out his food; just the smell alone was enough to make Jae Kyung's mouth water as she hungrily stared between it and her sad excuse for a dinner, a measly bowl of ramen.

She shook her head clear to get back to the important task at hand. "Uh, this weekend, we have to go to my parents' house," she informed him.

"Why?" Jun Hyung asked as he started eating.

She started explaining both reasons that they had to go while Jun Hyung continued to chew his food. "Okay," he simply answered once she was done.

Jae Kyung blinked in stupor."What?"

"I said okay. I'll go," he clarified.

Jae Kyung was stunned. Just like that, Jun Hyung agreed, no questions asked. She thought she would have at least had to beg him a couple times before he gave in. Maybe he wasn't such a difficult person to get along with after all. "So…can I have one of your dumplings?" she asked, trying her luck with his agreeable behavior. Her chopsticks were already approaching the succulent, meat filled ball of dough.

Her question was answered by Jun Hyung blocking her chopsticks with his own. "We fend for ourselves," he reminded her with an austere glare.

Jae Kyung made a face showing her disdain for his inability to share even a single appetizer and begrudgingly went back to eating her ramen that was now soggy and cold.

Friday evening after both got off from work, Jun Hyung and Jae Kyung arrived at the Song house located on the outskirts of Seoul. Jae Kyung stood at the front door and closed her eyes, exhaling deeply as she mentally prepared for the weekend ahead of her.

"What are you doing? Aren't we going inside?" Jun Hyung crossly asked while holding both his and Jae Kyung's luggage that would sustain them for their two night stay.

Jae Kyung turned to him with a serious expression on her face. "I don't know what your family reunions are like, but I'm going to warn you before we step into this house; prepare yourself for tomorrow."

Jun Hyung eyed her incredulously before letting out a scoff. "You're joking, right? It's a reunion, not a war," he retorted. Sure Jun Hyung's family didn't really hold reunions, but he had heard of them, and from what he knew, it was a simple gathering of relatives that you otherwise didn't get to see often. How bad could that be?

Jae Kyung's expression didn't falter as she shook his head at his naivety. "I wouldn't take my warning so lightly. It may not be a real war between countries, but you're going to have to use strategy as if you really were in a war in order to get through this weekend alive."

Jun Hyung rolled his eyes at her exaggeration. He had to admit, her immediate family was a bit overwhelming when he first met them, but they weren't difficult to get along with. The rest of her family should be just as manageable, right?

Their conversation was interrupted by the front door opening to reveal Mrs. Song beaming at the couple. "What are you two doing just standing there? Com in!" she urged, opening the door wider and pulling Jae Kyung into her arms for a tight hug. Only a week had passed since the wedding, yet it felt like years for Mrs. Song since she had last seen Jae Kyung.

Mr. Song joined them in the foyer as well. "Ah Jun Hyung, my boy, how was the honeymoon?" he asked as he shook his son-in-law's hand.

"It was definitely a memorable one," Jun Hyung vaguely answered, thinking it wise to keep from his in-laws that he was responsible for almost drowning their daughter.

After the two performed the customary, full body bows towards Jae Kyung's parents, they were led towards the dining room.

"Well I hope you two haven't eaten because I cooked a grand meal for your first night at the house. I made both your favorites." Mrs. Song turned to Jun Hyung. "Your mother told me you like japchae. I hope you like the way I make it," she said with a motherly smile.

[Japchae: Korean stir-fried, mixed vegetable dish.]

Jun Hyung cracked a small smile at her considerateness. "If it's anything like the food you made the last time I was here, I'm sure I will."

Mrs. Song was pleased by his answer, but Jae Kyung simply rolled her eyes at his overly fake sweetness. His words were a cover for his true, picky nature that she had to deal with when they were alone.

"So where's everyone else?" Jae Kyung asked as she cautiously checked around each corner before proceeding towards the dining room, half-expecting Joong Gi to jump out and scare her.

"Your siblings and in-laws are coming tomorrow with everyone else," Mr. Song answered. "We thought it best to let you two have a quiet night before the rowdiness of tomorrow," he added with a chuckle.

Jae Kyung heaved a sigh of relief and strutted through the house more relaxed. Entering the dining room, her eyes fell on the feast in front of her and her  mouth instantly watered. Real food. That was all she could think as she took a seat and picked up her chopsticks, ready to dig in. She devoured everything on her plate as if it was her last meal. How she had missed her mom's homemade food that she had taken for granted before.

"Jae Kyung, slow down or you'll get indigestion," Mrs. Song scolded.

"Sorry mom," she said with a mouth full of food. "It's just, you're food is so good."

Mrs. Song shook her head at her lack of manners. "Chew before you speak," she reprimanded her, taking Jae Kyung's plate away so she could swallow before taking another bite. Jae Kyung responded by stomping her feet and whining like a child.

Mr. Song laughed at the familiar exchange between his daughter and wife. He turned to Jun Hyung with an amused smile. "I hope she's not like this with you."

Jun Hyung gave her a quick glance before returning a smile at Mr. Song. "I'm afraid you're going to have to keep hoping." His answer earned a hearty laugh from Mr. Song and a disapproving frown from Mrs. Song at Jae Kyung who shot him a glare through the corner of her eyes. The rest of dinner continued just as blithely before the two headed to Jae Kyung's room where the couple would be spending the weekend.

Jun Hyung glanced around at her room once they entered. The walls were painted a playful purple color with bright green stripes, and decorated with various posters of different boy bands. SHINee seemed to be her favorite considering how many more there were of that particular group in comparison to the others. He shook his head as he noticed how she had placed hearts around one particular member's face in all the posters. Jun Hyung didn't know his name, he wasn't one to keep up with boy bands, but he could discern that he was the tallest of the group with the darkest skin among them. There didn't seem to be anything particularly special about this member in comparison to the others and Jun Hyun thought it childish that Jae Kyung would single him out as her favorite, even noticing a lipstick kiss mark on the cheek of his solo poster.

Disgusted by all the boys that covered the walls, particularly the half- ones, he averted his gaze and saw the queen-sized bed, which was clad in an equally colorful bedding as the rest of her room. "I call the bed," he declared as he walked over and lay down on it, folding his arms behind his head.

"What?! No way! We're in my room, on my turf. I say what goes and I call the bed!" Jae Kyung quickly declares as she also walked over and lay on the other side.

"Then where am I supposed to sleep?" Jun Hyung huffed, sitting up and pouting slightly. Jae Kyung also sat up before simply pointing to the floor. "What? Hey, at least when I was going to take the bed at the hotel, I offered you the couch," he argued.

Jae Kyung scoffed at what he seemed to think was chivalry. "If I had a couch I'd let you sleep on it too, but I don't so you'll have to make do with the floor," she sarcastically answered back.

The two engaged in a stubborn glaring contest. There was no way Jun Hyung was going to let a repeat of their honeymoon happen where he had to forego sleeping in a bed for the first time in his 23 years.

An idea came to him and he smirked before getting off the bed to make his way over to the door. "I guess I'll just go sleep on the couch downstairs then." He placed a hand on the door knob before turning to look at her with an innocent shrug. "I'm sure your mom won't think much of us not sleeping in the same room when she finds me in the morning. I mean, it's nothing out of the ordinary for a husband and wife spending their first night at the bride's parents' house, right?"

Jae Kyung mulled his argument over in her head. He had a good point; her mom would definitely raise a brow when she found Jun Hyung in the morning. And knowing Jun Hyung, he'd probably sweet talk his way out of the blame, leaving her to think up of a legitimate excuse for kicking him out, which she was terrible at under pressure.

Jun Hyung was about to turn the knob and open the door. "Wait!" she called to him reluctantly. He smiled to himself before turning to look at her with a blank expression. "Fine, you can have the bed," she muttered.

Jun Hyung smirked in success and walked back over to the bed. Jae Kyung slowly scrambled off with a pitiful pout, one that actually made Jun Hyung feel a bit guilty for taking her bed. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth at what he was about to suggest. "How about we share?" Jae Kyung jerked her head towards him with a judgmental stare. "The bed is big enough that we can both sleep on and keep to ourselves," he explained with a defeated sigh.

Jae Kyung took a few seconds to think it over. Sharing a bed with him didn't sound pleasant at all, but never had she ever had to sleep on the floor of her own room. Weighing the two, Jae Kyung held more pride in being able to sleep in her own bed. "Fine. But if you dare lay a hand on me while I'm sleeping, I'll make sure you wished you had taken the floor instead," she warned with a piercing glare.

Jun Hyung scoffed at the unnecessary warning. "Don't worry," he dryly answered, "even in my sleep I wouldn't dream of touching you." His words stung Jae Kyung just a little, but at the same time, they were reassuring.

After Jae Kyung changed into her sleepwear of a loose t-shirt and pajama shorts, she slipped into her side of the bed and snuggled in under the covers, sighing in content at the familiar scent of her comforter. She looked to her left, where Jun Hyung was standing by the side of the bed with his hands on the hem of his shirt, about to pull it up above his head.

"Yah! What are you doing?!" she yelled as she sat up and pointed accusingly at him with one hand while clutching her comforter against her chest with her other hand.

Jun Hyung jumped back slightly from her sudden shout. "I can't sleep with so many clothes on," he replied as if the answer was obvious.

Jae Kyung stared at him with agape at the stupidity of his answer. "If you're going to sleep in the same bed as me, I don't want to see you in any less clothes than you're wearing now," she retorted, giving him a once over at his attire of the sweat pants and t-shirt he had changed into.

"But I get hot!" Jun Hyung complained.

"Then you can sleep without any covers!" she argued back. Jae Kyung pulled the comforter from the other side of the bed and wrapped herself in it before giving him a hard glare and lying down in her bed, facing away from Jun Hyung.

Jun Hyung bore a hole into the back of her head. Suddenly, this was starting to resemble the honeymoon all over again. But at least this time, he wasn't going to wake up with aching back muscles. With a sigh, he lay down on his side of the bed, facing away from Jae Kyung.

"Good night," Jae Kyung mumbled after a few minutes of silence.

Jun Hyung glanced over his shoulder to see her still in the same position, wrapped multiple times in her comforter. He smiled broadly to himself at how much she resembled a caterpillar. "Good night," he finally answered after a short pause.

In the middle of the night, Jun Hyung was rudely awoken by something hitting his back. Rubbing his eyes, he turned to look over his shoulder to witness the sight of Jae Kyung sprawled out from her comforter cocoon, her hand that had hit him crossing onto his side of the bed. He took the trespassing limb and placed it back on her side before turning back to face the edge and attempting to go back to sleep. Except just as he had closed his eyes again, he was kicked in the leg by Jae Kyung's own leg.

Ji Hyo's words just after the wedding started replaying through his head. Jae Kyung kicks and punches in her sleep. If only he had remembered that before offering to share the bed with her. He breathed deeply before turning back to look at her sleeping figure with a glare. Taking the covers that fit loosely around her, he wrapped them in a tight bind around her body to prevent her from kicking or punching any more. 

This seemed to work because Jun Hyung finally fell asleep again. But Jae Kyung had a stubborn streak even in her sleep, and she managed to wiggle herself loose from the constraints of her comforter before she kneed Jun Hyung in the back. Jun Hyung groaned in annoyance, and in his half-conscious state, he turned around before placing his arms around the mess of comforters that contained Jae Kyung, holding her in a tight embrace to keep her from punching again. One of his legs rested on hers to keep her from kicking him.

And that was how they were found the next morning by Jae Kyung's siblings and in-laws who, after arriving early for the reunion, decided to sneak in to Jae Kyung's room and spy on the couple.

"I feel like we're invading their privacy," Soo Young whispered.

"If they wanted privacy, they should have locked the door," Seung Hun argued. "Besides, if he thinks he can try anything when he's at his in-laws home he's got another thing coming." He wasn't particularly pleased to see his baby sister sleeping cozily in Jun Hyung's arms.

"But you have to admit, they look so cute sleeping together," Tae Hee remarked with a soft laugh.

"Yeah, it seems he's figured out how to handle her sleeping habits," Ji Hyo chortled.

"I'm going to take a picture of this," Joong Gi snickered. "Ow!"

"Don't! I know you're going to use that to blackmail her later," Hyo Joo reprimanded him.

"Sometimes I think you care more about my sister than me," Joong Gi whined.

"Shh! You'll wake them," Soo Young loudly whispered as Jun Hyung and Jae Kyung slightly stirred in bed.

Soo Han climbed up on the bed to examine the two more closely. "Noona looks like a caterpillar," Soo Han said with a giggle.

"Soo Han, come off the bed or you'll wake them up," Tae Hee quietly ordered him. Soo Han pouted but got off the bed.

"Okay, how about you leave the kids alone now," Mr. Song said from the door of Jae Kyung's room. "Some of the relatives are here, so why don't you all greet them and we'll let these two sleep a little bit longer before waking them up."

One by one, the Song family exited the room, getting one last look at the hilarious sight of the two newlyweds sleeping comfortably together. Seung Hun was the last to leave and before closing the door behind him, he sighed. The idea of Jun Hyung replacing him as her favorite "Oppa" was still something he wasn't used to.

A few minutes after the family left, Jae Kyung began to stir awake. She tried to stretch her arms from the suffocating hold of her comforter wrapped around her, but no matter how much she wriggled, she couldn't seem to free herself. She frowned and slowly fluttered her eyes open to the sight of a white cotton t-shirt. She tilted her head up and squinted slightly at the unfamiliar image of a masculine-looking jaw.

It was at this time that Jun Hyung chose to wake up. He breathed in deeply through his nose and exhaled before he realized that there was something warm and fluffy in his arms. His head shifted downwards to meet Jae Kyung's eyes staring in confusion at him.

There was a moment of silence while the two tried to piece together the position they were in, and when they did, their eyes widened in realization.

Author's Note

It's a new year! I hope everyone had a great holiday and that 2013 is looking good so far :)

So this chapter is my first update on AFF for 2013, and to set the tone for this year, I wanted to make it as fluffy as I could with these two who haven't budged much from their hate-hate relationship. Don't know much about Korean wedding traditions, but I think it's customary for a newlywed to spend the night at the bride's parents house after the honeymoon (correct me if I'm wrong). So I decided to spice it up a little with that tradition coinciding with the Song Family Reunion. Hope you're ready for what will happen at this get together. I'll give you a hint: betrayal, revenge, and even some jealousy. Haha, none of that sounds lighthearted at all, but believe me, this reunion is meant to be something comedic. I hope I can evoke some laughter out of you :D

One more small thing; I changed the apartment pass code to 1001 which will still be Jae Kyung's birthday (October 1st instead of September 22nd) and it's still a palindrome (same backwards and forwards) but this way, I don't have to worry about her being older by the real year compared to the story year.

January 3, 2013, 3:04 PM