“Oppa,” Ji Hyo called for Jong Kook, “Come here, quick.”

Jong Kook immediately put the knife he’s holding onto the kitchen counter. He gave his hands a quick wash and dried them with a kitchen towel. He then proceeded to the living room where Ji Hyo was, leaving his half done chicken salad alone.

“Oppa~~~ come here! Where are you?” Ji Hyo called for him again. Annoyance could be heard in her voice as she didn’t get any response from the man.

“I’m here,” he replied as he reached the living room and stood right behind her who was sitting comfortably on the sofa, “Aigoo, this girl, can’t even wait for a minute,” he said as he pinched both of Ji Hyo’s chubby cheeks from the back.

“Yah! Oppa! That hurt!” she shouted as she turned around and tried to hit him multiple times with the plushie she was holding.

“Omo, lioness emerged again,” he teased as he dodged the fierce attacks and slowly made his way to sit beside her. Ji Hyo just pouted and as soon as Jong Kook landed beside her, she stared at him, sending daggers through the teasing machine with her eyes. Jong Kook shuddered and quickly wrapped his arm around the angry lioness, trying to calm her down. The effect was quick as she immediately calmed down at his touch. She stuck her tongue out at him and a small smile formed on her face. She rested her head on Jong Kook’s chest and hugged the plushie tightly.

The plushie, a lion plushie to be specific, was her new favorite toy. She had just received it not long after Jong Kook came back from his personal vacation in LA. It was his gift for her, the first gift he had ever given to her. It’s exactly the reason why Ji Hyo treasured it so much. She brought it wherever she went, hugged it while she’s sleeping and it kept her company during lonely nights (which only occurred once, by the way). It reminded her greatly of Jong Kook too. The lion plushie kind of looks like him, as she always claimed it to be. The small eyes of the lion greatly resemble his. Though he had never agreed with her statement. She named it “Kookie”. He protested that the nickname is his and his alone.

After a minute or two passed, Jong Kook finally broke the peaceful silence. “So, what’s the urgent matter?” he asked.

“Oh! That… Hold on a minute,” she replied before grabbing her phone that was lying at her side. “I just received my flight info. You know, the one for MAMA in Hong Kong,” she said, showing him the e-mail she received earlier. She continued, “So, have you receive yours?” Ji Hyo looked at Jong Kook in anticipation.

“No, I haven’t but Gap Jin said that my flight will probably be at late night. Guess we won’t be travelling together,” he replied in monotone. Ji Hyo pouted.

“What? What is wrong with that? It’s only a short flight. Plus, we don’t want the media to take photos of us together. That will create-”

“Fine!” Ji Hyo abruptly interrupted him. “I get what you mean. There’s no need to explain from A to Z. I heard that like a thousand times already.” She turned around till her back faced Jong Kook, clutched Kookie the Lion tighter and pretended to be busy with her phone. Jong Kook sighed and scratched his head, thinking hard of how to cheer her up. He reached out his hand to grab Ji Hyo’s shoulder but stopped when he heard her mumbling something. It was almost inaudible but he caught the last part. It’s something about him missing the flight back from Singapore last month. He sighed again.

Slowly, Jong Kook moved closer to Ji Hyo, wrapped both of his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder. He felt Ji Hyo startled under his sudden hug. He then whispered right next to her ear, keeping his voice as low as possible.

“Hey,” he said. He noticed her thumb which was on her phone’s screen stopped moving. He got her full attention now. “I’ll send you to the airport, alright? I’ll drive myself,” he paused, pondered for a while, and continued, “And I’ll wear matching clothes like we did in Singapore.”

She didn’t give him any reply but he knew he succeeded when he saw her cheek stuck out, indicating she’s smiling. Or grinning. Or perhaps smirking in satisfaction. He then turned her body to face him, poked her nose playfully and exchange glances with her. He couldn’t help but smile at her antics. Easily getting sulky but easy to be coaxed too. Both of them then rested their bodies on the sofa with his arm again around her shoulder, staring into each other’s eyes. Their smiles never left their faces. After a while, his eyes diverted to the bright yellow soft toy in her embrace. He took it from her hand and complained that she hugged that not-cute-at-all lion more than she hugged him. Ji Hyo chuckled at his childish behavior before taking his arm that was on her shoulder and hugged it with both of her arms.

They stayed like that for another good 15 minutes. That’s their own way of spending time together. Sitting together, holding each other close, chatting about this and that, teasing, bickering, doing everything while staying close, very close to each other, just like a pair of conjoined twins. Their sweet moment was interrupted by Ji Hyo’s ringing phone. She immediately picked it up, talking to the other person on the line, her manager. Her manager asked her about the time she wanted to go to the airport so that she can prepare the transportation. She simply replied that she’ll go on her own and that they shall meet up at the airport instead. She giggled when her manager by asking whether she really was going alone or someone going to send her. Jong Kook who was listening, clearly understood the conversation and just sat there silently, a big smile plastered on his face.

Ji Hyo spoke to her manager a little bit more before her face suddenly appeared shocked and her expression made it obvious that she had forgot about something that her manager had suddenly brought up. She knocked her own head a few times, unable to believe how stupid of her to have forgotten about it. Abruptly, she ended the call and rushed to the kitchen table where she left her handbag and a big plastic bag full of stuff after she arrived at Jong Kook’s place that morning. The man can only watch with curious mind as she rummaged through the plastic bag, pulling out lots of stuff, mainly food - junk food. He can clearly identify them as potato chips, chocolate and what looked like dried cuttlefish. He frowned at the presence of the sinful food inside his apartment.

“Found it!” Ji Hyo shouted. She’s holding a parcel the size of a small cushion. As she walked back to the living room, she explained to Jong Kook. “It’s a good thing unnie reminded me about this. I put it inside her bag when we’re coming back to Korea. I totally forgot about it till she handed it to me this morning when she dropped me here,” she paused as sat at her previous spot and gave the item to Jong Kook. He looked at her curiously while taking it, a little bit hesitant. He too had never received any gift from her, well, if the bracelets that he had been wearing didn’t count. She indirectly made him wear them by buying those accessories from time to time. He wasn’t into the idea at first as he didn’t want their relationship to be sniffed out by the media but over the time he found himself unable to separate from them especially when he’s away from her. Those small things always managed to keep him from missing her too much.

“I bought it in Hong Kong. Open it,” she said, eagerly anticipating his reaction.

Jong Kook slowly ripped the bright red wrapper while glancing at Ji Hyo once in awhile. She watched him intensely with big smile on her face. From the ripped paper, emerged a thick fabric, made of wool with the colour dark blue and black in zigzag manner. He pulled it out and held it end to end. It’s a scarf. He looked at it in amazement

“So,” Ji Hyo suddenly spoke, “do you like it?”

Jong Kook smiled and replied, “It’s beautiful. I love it.” He then gave her a small peck on the lips and whispered thank you. She smiled, happy that the man loved the gift that she spent hours with her manager to find it. She went from shop to shop until she was satisfied with her gift. It was hard to shop in Hong Kong with her Hong Kong fans almost everywhere she went. She’s positive nobody saw her buying that scarf on that particular day.

“It’s going to be really cool outside, especially since winter approaching. I know you hate cold so much.”

Jong Kook was touched by her concern. He grabbed her hand and said, “I’ll stay warm even during the harshest winter, as long as you’re beside me.” He was rewarded with a hit on the chest by her using Kookie the Lion.

“Don’t be so cheesy, oppa!” she said. Both of them broke into laughter.

He then took the scarf, wrapped one end around his neck and wrapped the other end around Ji Hyo’s. He pulled her closer and they’re back to their usual habit of holding to each other.

“Oppa,” she said sheepishly a moment later, “what the couple outfit we are going to wear?”

“Erm… we can just wear something… uh… black or anything around that shade,” he replied.

“Ugh, you’re just playing safe,” she clearly disapproved of Jong Kook’s suggestion.

“You should listening to what Gwang Soo told me about the fanmeeting in Singapore,” he retorted, trying to justify his idea.

“What? What did he said?” she asked, really curious about what was perceived about their behaviour in the foreign country.

“Nothing much, just that he read in the internet about some fans noticing us and even speculating about our relationship. We have to be careful and take things slowly, Ji Hyo-yah.”

Ji Hyo nodded in understanding. She understood his concern about their relationship and that if it suddenly leaked out, it will affect both of them, especially her. She knew he’s a really private person and wants to take things slowly with cautiously. He promised that he’ll announce about them being together someday and the upcoming event in Hong Kong was actually his idea to slowly make them appear in public as a couple and allow people to get used to them. She snuggled closer into him and both of them spent their time peacefully like that.

That was until Ji hyo’s stomach grumbled loudly and Jong Kook had to go back to the kitchen to resume preparing their lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: thank you ReikaNeri for editing this fic!