The skies were getting darker, the night slowly taking over. Christmas songs were playing on every radio channel; some were by the original artists and others were covers by kpop idols.

The 25th of december was only two days away now and in a week Jong Kook's age will go up one digit. Every new year made him realize how quickly he was reaching the big Four-O. At some point, he came to terms with the fact that he would end up alone. But then, seeing how some people find love late in life, his favorite hyung, Jae Suk, being one of those people, it gave him hope that he might meet his special person too. Now that Ji Hyo was by his side, he realized that it was a good thing he didn't give up on his chance at happiness.

The SpartAce couple had been stuck in traffic on the highway for quite awhile now. Ji Hyo had woken up half an hour ago and her tummy was starting to rumble. She tried to muffle the embarrassing thunder-like sound by turning up the volume of the radio. Why, oh, why did they have to be caught in traffic during dinnertime? She couldn't last three hours without snacking on something and last time she checked, the trip from the zoo to the city took two hours and the long line of cars in front of them hasn't budged for almost an hour! 

"I'm starving!" She yelled in despair, abandonning the lady like image she kept all day. "Why aren't we moving?!?"

Jong Kook was startled, his eyes, which were constantly shifting from his phone to the cars in front of him, gawked at the woman next to him. If Ji Hyo hadn't shouted, he wouldn't have even noticed that she was awake. 

"God! You gave me a heart attack!" Jong Kook breathed in deeply, putting his hand on his chest. "When did you wake up?"

"A while ago. I was starting to get hungry and my tummy was rumbling so I couldn't sleep any longer." She said checking her purse for candies.

"That explains why the songs were getting louder and louder. You turned up the volume! I thought it was weird and I got creeped out for a few seconds." He said, thinking how silly he was to still believe in ghosts.

"Hmm." Ji Hyo said barely listening to the Commander, she was too busy searching in the depths of her purse.

"Aha!" She exclaimed as she reached for three lollipops hidden in the bottom of her bag. "Green apple, grape and cherry. Which one do you want, oppa?"

"Grape." He said as she unwrapped the paper for him, too busy playing a racing game on his phone. She put the lollipop in his mouth and ate the cherry flavored candy.

"Who knew Mr. I-don't-eat-junk-food would actually eat a lollipop? You do know that they are empty calories, right?" She said, feigning shock and then teasing him.

"I guess I can let go of my strict diet once in awhile when I'm with you." Jong Kook replied with a grin. "I mean you only eat unhealthy stuff, so that would mean that everytime we go out, I'd have to abstain from eating anything. I don't want to starve!"

Ji Hyo scoffed and blew the strand of hair out of her eyes in indignation.

"I eat healthy! Sometimes, my meals consist only of veggies and fruits! Can't you see how much weight I've lost?"

"Yeah, I've noticed! And I have to say, I'm quite surprised by the results! Who knew losing weight would change someone's look so much?" Jong Kook said, stating the obvious.

"What's that supposed to mean? That I was considerably fatter before?" Ji Hyo questionned, squinting her eyes at him.

"Uh...Fat? You? No way! What I meant was...L-Look the cars are moving!" Jong Kook uttered, trying to save his life.

Before Ji Hyo could retort, her phone rang. Jong Kook was not going to get away that easily. She was going to punish him for insinuating that she was chubby! On the other side, Jong Kook couldn't be any happier, what a good timing that was! If her phone hadn't rang, Ji Hyo would be pulling on his hair with one hand and punching him in the stomach with the other! Despite all the physical pain he had endured each time they bickered, he never learned his lesson... He turned his neck to look at the pretty woman next to him and saw the foul words she mouthed as she glared at him with vengeance filled eyes. He immediately sat straight and focused back on the road. He didn't want to add fuel to the fire and so, he opted for the safest option: behave like a docile puppy.

"Hello? Yes, Mr. CEO? Yes. How did you...? Oh. She did. I was going to talk to you about that..."

It looked like Ji Hyo was in some kind of trouble, judging by the tone she was using with the CEO. Jong Kook listened carefully and tried to make out what the conversation was about.

"Yes. When? Right now? Uh...Sure. Okay. I understand. He's with me. Okay, goodbye." She hung up and rubbed her temples.

"What was that about? Sounded pretty serious..." Jong Kook said, looking straight ahead of him as they finally reached the exit.

"Oppa. The CEO wants us to meet him at the restaurant where he's at. He wants to talk. About our relationship." Ji Hyo sighed, turning her body in his direction.

"Oh. Right. He wasn't aware that we're currently seeing each other..." He trailed off, sensing that the talk might end up with the CEO wanting both of them to break up.

"And honestly, he didn't sound like he was approving." Ji Hyo sighed again. Jong Kook glanced at her and took her hand in his right hand. Without saying anything much, he gave her a comforting squeeze and a smile that meant that everything was going to be alright.

As they were nearing downtown Seoul, Ji Hyo gave him the address of the restaurant and looked out the window, dreadful.