He was jolted awake when the flight stewardess lightly tapped him on the shoulder to tell him that the plane is landing soon. He thanked her absentmindedly and immediately put his seat upright. He reached up to stretch his arms and then clasped his hands before placing them on his nape. The seat belt sign flashed on top of where the flight attendants were standing, one of whom was motioning for everyone to put on their seat belts. 

His plane landed safely at 10:30 in the morning and he went out of the airport straightaway. He didn’t even think about calling Ji Hyo, already knowing that he wanted to surprise her instead. He was excited to see her because it felt like he hasn’t seen her for a long time, which was true. A year and a half is a long time for two remarkably close people to be on the opposite sides of the world. He hailed a cab— or a taxi, as they call it in Seoul, and went off to the apartment he shares with Ji Hyo. 

He reached the apartment and put down his luggage on the cold floor. A hint of a smile graced his face when he saw his slippers still in its usual spot— next to hers, making him feel welcomed at home. He took off his shoes, and put on the slippers, then made his way and sat down on the chocolate-colored couch, and ran his hand through the woolly material. He grabbed the pillow that concealed the stain that made Ji Hyo furious about four years ago. He laughed to himself as he remembered Ji Hyo yelling at him when he spilled the Kool Aid (that he brought from the States) on the new couch to celebrate their moving in. 

“You are such a man-child,” she scolded him, running to the kitchen to grab whatever cloth she can find in one of the boxes.

“I just made our apartment more homey!” he called out, laughing and trailing behind her with the half-full glass of Kool Aid in his hands. “Besides, it’s bound to happen one day anyway. At least it happened now with you as a witness, right?”

“Did you at least learn your lesson?” She finally found a roll of paper towel in one of the boxes she labeled. She turned to him, raising an eyebrow, waiting for his answer. 

“Yes, ma’am!” he said, straightening up and saluting to her. She smacked the back of his head before going back to the living room to clean up the mess. Several promises to look after the house and bargaining (for food) later, he was forgiven. 

He spilled coffee on the fluffy, white carpet a few days after. She never knew, though, because he moved the couch a bit more forward to conceal the stain. 

He remembered the stain on the carpet, and looked down at the couch. He knelt on one knee and lifted the couch from the ground and searched for it— eyebrows furrowing when he couldn’t spot it. Within a few seconds, his eyes widened as he realized something—no way did she see the discolored patch of carpet when he was away, right? Crud.

He hopped off the ground, grabbed the car keys, and dashed out the door. He went to the parking lot and searched for the car. He’s rather convinced that Ji Hyo had never used the car, no matter how much he coaxed her to do so. He even said that he’ll hire a driver for her, but she still refused. He finally found the car in the same spot he left it a year and a half ago. He shook his head with a smile as he opened it. He took out his phone and searched for her office’s address. Once he found it, he put it on the GPS and drove off.

~

Ji Hyo arrived at her desk at the office and found the flower of the week on her desk, the blooming sunflower. She picked it up and looked at it, admiring the brightly-colored flower. She looked down at the calendar to check on that day’s schedule, and while it’s a typical Thursday, she realized that it’s her aunt’s birthday. Ji Hyo had promptly decided to visit the person whom she regards as the one who raised her, and she thought she would quickly stop by her aunt Lee Jeong Young’s house to bring her a gift.

She looked over at Jong Kook in his office, his forehead already scrunched up first thing in the morning. It’s like his morning habit, and it’s still making her concerned. She shook her head and grabbed her phone, texting him immediately.

“Hey, why so cranky in the morning?” She sent a text to him.

She watched him glance at him phone, picking it up when he saw her name. He looked up at her and gave a small smile. He looked down at his phone and said, “It's the same old story of my wicked family. Anyway, have you had breakfast?”

“Not yet, actually. I'm planning on getting some coffee at the pantry. You need anything?”

“That's not a breakfast, Ji Hyo.”

“I take what I can, Jong Kook. Walking to get coffee now.” 

He saw her head to the pantry to get her morning cup of java. He quickly dialed a friend’s number and listed his needs. He thanked his friend and went back to work. 

Minutes later, a squad of delivery guys walked in with different types of food. Korean, American, French, and even German breakfasts were brought over to the office. He stood up, fixed his jacket, and walked out of his office to oversee the delivery. 

“Whoa, this is amazing,” Joong Ki commented, watching the men line up with food. 

Jong Kook saw Kwang Soo wipe the side of his mouth. “This is like a dream,” the tall man said. 

Ji Hyo sat openmouthed, scanning the event taking place right in front of her. Food. There’s food everywhere. Well, in that one corner of the office. But still. 

She saw Jong Kook stepping out of his office, a smile finally on his face. “Have breakfast with me?” he asked.

“I feel like all we do in this office is eat,” Ji Hyo commented. “It’s amazing how we don’t have rodents running around here.”

He laughed. “That’s why we have custodians, Ji Hyo. Plus, go on. Kwang Soo’s going to take all the sausages.”

Kwang Soo stopped chewing midway when he heard his name being called, his mouth overstuffed with sausage, and turned around to the source. Ji Hyo and Jong Kook burst out laughing.

~

Ji Hyo left the office at 5 P.M. She immediately set off outside the office building to look for a taxi, when she thought she saw a familiar figure from afar. She narrowed her eyes as the man went back inside his car, and shook her head, ignoring him completely. Just as she was about to cross to the island, a car braked right in front of her. She turned to the driver, eyes ablaze, just ready to explode. She hit the hood of the car with her palm, and though it did hurt a bit, she’s still pissed. The man did almost run her over.

“Hey! You! Get out of your car!” she said to the shadow inside the car. She couldn’t really see his face because the windows were semi-tinted. 

The man finally opened the door, but didn’t turn to her. She felt her cheeks get hotter when he had the audacity to not even face the woman whom he had almost killed. “Hey, !” 

“Is ‘hey, ’ really the first thing you tell your best man?” the man said, but she can hear the smirk on his voice. She knows that voice. 

Before he can even turn around, she threw her bag at him. It slammed on his chest as he scrambled to catch it. He held his chest, feeling the soreness already coming. “What was that for?” he questioned.

She almost knocked him over when she flung her arms around his neck, hugging him close. “You idiot, why’d you do that?” she said, laughing over his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her back in return, laughing along with her.

“You know I’m always full of surprises, bub,” he grinned, finally breaking the hug, but kept ahold of each other. “Also, didn’t you realize the car?”

Now that Ji Hyo’s had a good look at it, it does look familiar. She shook her head in disbelief. “I almost forgot all about it.”

“Your memory’s even worse. That’s because you’re getting old,” he teased. 

She rolled her eyes. “If I’m getting old, then that means you are, too. We’re born on the same year, remember?”

“I can still pull off looking five years younger than you,” he returned, making her smirk and cross her arms. He opened the driver’s door and put her bag inside. “Hop in, let’s go get something to eat.”

“Wait, I was actually planning on going to Aunt Jeong Young’s house for her birthday. Do you mind?” 

“It’s Aunt Jeong Young’s birthday? I don’t have a gift.”

“I don’t either. Come on, let’s drive around to get her a gift together,” she urged.

“You are asking a jet-lagged person drive, Ji Hyo,” he started, “But then, I’m me!”

With a final roll of her eyes, they went inside the car and drove off to their aunt’s house. 

Well, would you look at that. I finally updated after five thousand years! Again, no proofreading, and I've been up for more than 24 hours because of finals when I decided to write the mid to last bit.