band.

 

 

“Good evening!”

 

“Good evening!”

 

“Good evening!”

 

Chaeyoung enters the abode as quietly as she can, one hand holding a bag and the other holding tightly onto Tzuyu (who very much looks like she’d really rather be anywhere else at the moment). Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Dahyun all stand at the entrance with bright matching grins.

 

“Come on in- make yourselves at home!” Dahyun chirps as she lays out two pairs of slippers for the two. Chaeyoung slides her feet into the visibly smaller pair. Tzuyu takes the other,

 

“We brought you this- can I put it on the table?” Tzuyu holds up a bag of pies. Jeongyeon’s eyes visibly light up.

 

“ooOOoooOO are those what I think they are?!?”

 

Nayeon sails over to snatch the bag out of Tzuyu’s hands. “Why yes my darling, I think they are! Thank you, Tzuyu! Thank you, Chaeyoung!”

 

The younger girls have the life squeezed out of them momentarily as Nayeon and Jeongnyeon aggressively show their love before they’re released and pulled further into the house. They stumble into a large kitchen, where a familiar blonde and brunette are hard at work over a roaring fire.

 

“Mina- more cumin!”

 

“Sí señor!”

 

Tzuyu has to clap a hand over to stop her laughing. Chaeyoung just gapes at the sight before them. “Again?!?”

 

Momo finally looks up from where she’s stirring at something in an extremely large wok. “Oh, Chaeyoung! Tzuyu! You’re finally here!” She puts down her spatula and leaves the roaring fire to wrap the younger girls in a large hug. Chaeyoung feels herself relax momentarily; of all the new people she’s met this year, Momo was the first one who was kind. The first one she deemed semi-normal.

 

Mina looks up from where she’s sifting a powdery mix over what seems to be an extremely large meatloaf. “Hey.”

 

“Hey Mina unnie.” Tzuyu greets. Mina grins at the other girl, about to say something else, but then something flashes before them and promptly sweeps Tzuyu away, leaving a startled Mina and Chaeyoung in its wake.

 

Chaeyoung blinks. “Wh- what was that??”

 

Mina doesn’t seem nearly as fazed. “Not sure. But, I’m glad to see you.”

 

Chaeyoung finally lets a relaxed grin overtake her features as she leans into Mina’s embrace. “Yeah. What are you guys making in here?”

 

Mina redirects her gaze to the large counter full of ingredients. “Oh, Momo and I are preparing dinner for tonight.”

 

Chaeyoung tilts her head as she finally slows down enough to take in the rest of her surroundings. “Isn’t this supposed to be Jihyo’s house though?”

 

“Yup.”

 

Momo trots back into the kitchen to resume her stirring. Chaeyoung looks over curiously. “What is she making?”

 

“Stew and meatloaf. There’s some salad on the side over there and we’ll be roasting some vegetables later too.”

 

Chaeyoung vaguely registers the sound of the front door opening again and Dahyun’s cheerful voice greeting another partygoer. She assumes it’s Sana, since everyone else already seems to be here. There are footsteps that run upstairs though, and she dwells on it no longer. “Can I help you guys with anything in here?”

 

Mina shakes her head, a fond look in her eyes and a small smile on her lips. “Nah, we’re fine. Momo and I cook best together since I’m the only one who really understands her cooking gibberish. Also, she has a terrible tendency to do things really out of order so most people get really confused with her. You’re welcome to hang around with us though!”

 

Suddenly there’s a scream that sounds suspiciously like Tzuyu coming from the upper levels of the house. Mina looks up.

 

“Oh, that didn’t sound too good.”

 

Momo chuckles from the other end of the kitchen. “Nope. Not good at all.”

 

Chaeyoung hurries away.

 

“Get- get off me!” Tzuyu howls, long body thrashing about. Dahyun is clinging to her long form, screaming as well, and Jihyo has somehow managed to leap on top of her bookshelf.

 

Chaeyoung looks around. “What’s going on??”

 

Nayeon whips around to face her, half-breathing half-panting. “THERE- THERE IS A VERY LARGE INSECT ON JIHYO’S PILLOW OVER THERE.”

 

Chaeyoung pokes her head over to look. “What inse- oH MY GOODNESS.”

 

Dahyun screams a little more and buries her head in Tzuyu’s sweater. Sana is waving a slipper in front of her and Jeongyeon is cowering in a corner.

 

Who knew everyone was actually so cowardly.

 

“DO- DON’T JUST STAND THERE!” Nayeon screeches at Jeongyeon.

 

Jeongyeon shoots her a glare. “WELL WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO??”

 

“KILL IT, OF COURSE!”

 

“Hi Chaeyoung!” Sana bounces over on her tiptoes (as if the insect can hear her) to greet the younger girl. Chaeyoung grins up at her.

 

“Hey, Sana unnie! When did you get here?”

 

Sana settles down to crouch next to her as the others continue to squabble over the insect. “A few minutes ago, actually- Dahyun pulled me right upstairs the moment I walked in though. I guess you were in the kitchen or something then?”

 

Chaeyoung nods. “Yeah, I was with Mina and Momo. They’re making dinner downstairs.”

 

Sana frowns. “Isn’t this Jihyo’s house though?”

 

Chaeyoung shrugs.

 

“Just throw something at it!” Nayeon waves a forceful hand around, glaring warily at the bug and at Jeongyeon.

 

“Like wh- AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

 

Chaeyoung jumps at the older girl’s scream when the insect suddenly takes flight and heads straight towards her and Nayeon in the corner. Nayeon screams absolute bloody murder, hands flapping everywhere and slapping Jeongyeon forcefully while Jeongyeon grabs the nearest object to hurl at the insect- it happens to be Jihyo’s French horn case.

 

“OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS-”

 

The case crashes into the ground and the insect is still flying, but at least now it’s not making a beeline to Jeongyeon and Nayeon in the corner. Meanwhile, Tzuyu is trying her best to pry Dahyun off of her.

 

“Can you literally please just let go of my- aaaahhhhHHHHHHHHHHH!”

 

Chaeyoung and Sana both jump at Tzuyu’s bloodcurdling scream and look up just in time to see the insect land right on Tzuyu’s shoulder. The tallest among them leaps up with a startling amount of force, deadlifting Dahyun with her, and books it. The insect starts off her shoulder and buzzes, flying indiscriminately around the room and effectively sending everyone present in a flurried panic. Nayeon trips and falls on her face. Jeongyeon destroys yet another one of Jihyo’s belongings in an attempt to kill it. Jihyo herself jumps out the window.

 

Chaeyoung’s eyes grow wide as the homeowner suddenly disappears into the night sky. “What the -”

 

“Language!” Sana is quick to chide her, clapping a hand over and towing Chaeyoung in a joint charge following TzuHyun and 2yeon out of Jihyo’s (extremely large) bedroom. They very narrowly manage to make the sharp turn around the bookcase that Tzuyu has already crashed through (she’d spared no expense in her efforts to get the hell out of there and had decided that avoiding the bookcase for such a sharp turn was simply not worth the effort). Nayeon and Jeongyoen both respectively stumble through the subsequent mess and Nayeon falls (she’s always had bad ankles) but Jeongyeon manages to yank her up in time for them to manage tripping through the rest of the scattered items. Chaeyoung and Sana have the advantage of running last, and they actually manage to skid around the mess, around the corner, and then down the stairs along with the others.

 

Tzuyu finally stops running to collapse on the kitchen floor, right at Mina’s feet (good thing Jihyo’s house is always clean) with Dahyun on top of her. Both of them are somehow out of breath. Mina looks down at them disapprovingly.

 

“What is going on??”

 

Nayeon and Jeongyeon manage to skid to a halt as well, both sweaty and out of breath. Chaeyoung and Sana are no better, although Sana looks pretty composed compared to the rest of them. There’s not a strand of hair out of place.

 

“Wh- why aren’t you out of breath?” A panting Nayeon looks curiously at Sana.

 

Mina looks up from where she’s cutting up some mushrooms. “Oh, she went skiing for a day last weekend with Momo and her stamina has improved dramatically.”

 

Momo shoots them a thumbs-up from where she’s still working at something in a large wok, and Sana just beams. Nayeon accepts the explanation with the wit of a badger.

 

Jeongyeon frowns. “Just a day?”

 

“Momo is a very effective teacher sometimes.”

 

“Sometimes??”

 

Chaeyoung stands Dahyun back on her feet and helps Tzuyu upright. “Wait a second- where is Jihyo??”

 

Nayeon and Jeongyeon only now seem to realize the absence of their third companion. “That’s odd. She’s usually the first one down when we run that course.”

 

“It’s a course?”

 

“Sometimes.” Nayeon brushes off Sana’s question. “Do you think she got lost?”

 

Chaeyoung looks around at them all disbelievingly. “Did- did none of you see her jump out of her window or am I just crazy?”

 

“Ohhh, she jumped out the window?” Nayeon’s got a look on her face that says everything makes sense now. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

 

Chaeyoung is a little bit shook. “Wh- what??”

 

Jeongyeon is already pulling her jacket over her shoulders. “Let’s go get her.”

 

Tzuyu looks extremely confused. “Wh- what??”

 

Nayeon tosses their respective black, black, and baby pink jackets to them. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu just kind of hold onto them while Sana doesn’t hesitate to put hers on. “If she’s jumped out her window then it’s a code white. Come on- let’s hurry. It’s pretty cold out there.”

 

Jeongyeon turns to Mina and Momo who both have their hair pulled back and aprons around their waists. “Will you two be alright in here by yourselves?”

 

Momo nods reassuringly. “Yeah, we’re all set here. Dahyun has volunteered to start the limoncello- I gave her the base recipe at our last flower sale.”

 

Nayeon and Sana are already out the front door. Jeongyeon herds the younger girls out as well. “Oh here- snap these on your shoes. It’s snowing pretty hard out there.”

 

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu oblige and follow Jeongyeon out the door. They trek around to the side of the house, presumably beneath Jihyo’s window, and are met with the silhouette of an extremely large snowbank.

 

Nayeon and Sana have already got shovels in their hands and started digging. Jeongyeon reaches over to the wall of the house (it’s dark out already so Chaeyoung can’t quite see) and yanks twice really hard. There’s the sound of ice shattering and falling to the ground, and then Jeongyeon’s holding out two shovels to them. “Here ya go- just dig around where Nayeon and Sana are, but don’t be too hard. She’s got to be in there somewhere.”

 

Tzuyu blinks, properly startled. “What-”

 

“Have you found her yet?”

 

“Not yet!” Nayeon calls back through the falling snow and slight wind. Jeongyeon treks through the deepening snow to contribute her digging efforts, and so do Chaeyoung and Tzuyu. With five people at work, the snowbank erodes fairly quickly and it’s not long until they hear a yelp.

 

“Found her!” Sana’s high-pitched voice cuts through the darkness cheerily. “She’s right over here”!

 

“Jihyo! There you are!” Nayeon yanks the other girl out of the snow and onto her feet. Jihyo blows some snow off of her face.

 

“Took you long enough!”

 

“Sorry sorry- it’s so dark out here Ji, have you ever thought about installing some outdoor lights?” Sana quickly dusts the snow off of the rest of Jihyo’s body. “Quick, let’s go inside- it’s really cold out here.”

 

They usher Jihyo inside quickly (Jeongyeon doesn’t forget to stick the shovels back onto the side wall of the house) and brush themselves off as not to make a mess in the foyer. Jihyo heads straight for the bathroom to warm herself up, and the rest of them file into the kitchen.

 

Dahyun has finished setting the table and it looks beautiful. There are tastefully-placed holiday decorations around the space and a well-lit Christmas tree in the far corner of the open-space living room. Nine sets of cutlery are laid out around the round table, which features a glass spinning circle-thing on top of it, akin to one found in Chinese restaurants.

 

Tzuyu blinks. “Why does she have one of those in her house?”

 

Nayeon smooths an appreciate hand over the lazy susan. “Ah yes,   Susie . An architectural marvel.”

 

“Jihyo’s family doesn’t like to wait.” Jeongyeon chimes in as she walks past them, toting a tray of what looks like mapo tofu. Dahyun is close behind her with a plate of steamed bok choy.

 

“Oh, let me help with that.” Tzuyu hurries to take the large platter off of Dahyun’s hands. The pale girl smiles at her gratefully. 

 

“Thank you. I’ll go get some serving utensils!”

 

They float back to the kitchen- Tzuyu to help carry more plates, and Dahyun to go searching for the appropriate serving utensils. Jihyo comes out of the bathroom from defrosting and saunters into the aromatic kitchen.

 

“It smells so good!”

 

Momo and Mina grin proudly from their respective stations. “Wait till you taste it.” Momo cackles, an almost manic gleam in her eyes. Jihyo beams.

 

“We’re almost wrapped up here- just gotta finish searing the last of these dumplings and take the soup off the heat.” Mina says as she carefully nudges at a pan full of potstickers with the longest pair of chopsticks Chaeyoung’s ever seen.

 

“Where did you get such long chopsticks?”

 

Jihyo gestures to Sana, who’s trying hard to properly organize the build-your-own spring roll tray. “She brought me them! Ask her!”

 

“I think my mom got them when she went to visit China over fall break!” Sana sticks up a v sign cheerily. Chaeyoung nods appreciatively.

 

“That’s really cool!”

 

“I’ll bring you a couple pairs next week! I have a lot- I think one of her friends owns a kitchenware company.”

 

“Yup- I get all my cooking gear from Sana!” Momo affirms from the stove next to Mina.

 

Tzuyu walks back into the kitchen. “Is there anything else that’s ready to be brought out?”

 

“Right over here!” Momo calls, pointing to a large plate of steamed fish. Tzuyu looks at the dish, impressed.

 

“You seem to be good at making Chinese food.”

 

Momo actually looks a little embarrassed. “I haven’t had much experience making it, but I’ve been getting really into it lately.”

 

Tzuyu grins at her as she moves to take the fish out to the dining room. Mina claps her hands and switches the heat off on the Park family’s stove.

 

“Soup’s done!”

 

Momo crouches down to peer into the oven. “Meatloaf’s done!”

 

Mina carefully takes the remaining potstickers out of the pan and piles them onto the already-large pile of potstickers besides her. “Sana, can you let everyone know that it’s time to eat?”

 

Sana sticks her head out of the kitchen and takes a huge breath of air. “DINNNEERRRRRRRRRRR-”

 

Clambering footsteps are heard as the remaining friends skid towards the dining room. Mina hands the tower of potstickers to Tzuyu and then turns to help Momo get the meatloaf out of the oven. Nayeon and Jihyo come back in to help carry out the vat of stew, and Dahyun finally locates all he appropriate serving utensils. Chaeyoung is pouring limoncello in nine glasses and Sana’s taken the liberty of arranging the dishes neatly on Susie the lazy susan. Tzuyu and Jeongyeon finish carrying out the last of the numerous dishes Mina and Momo have managed to whip up, and then after some clamoring and mild disagreement (Jihyo, Nayeon, and Sana always argue about who gets to sit next to Tzuyu) they all finally settle around the round table to dig in.

 

“This- this is delicious!” Dahyun beams through a mouthful of potsticker.

 

“Yeah honestly- who taught you two how to cook??”

 

Mina chuckles lightly swallowing a bite of rice before answering. “Momo’s always been a really good cook and I’ve kind of learned by watching her so many times.”

 

“Mina’s the best sous chef ever!” Momo grins, fist-bumping the other girl.

 

Even Tzuyu looks impressed. “This tastes so authentic- where on earth did you learn all this??”

 

Momo just grins through a mouthful of jokbal. “Try the soup too!”

 

Nayeon grins as she helps herself to a large spoonful of meatloaf. “So, did everyone else’s parents ditch them on this lovely Christmas day?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Wow.” Nayeon chuckles, for once slightly taken aback by the unanimous response. “Shouldn’t we get an award or something, for simultaneously managing to scare off nine pairs of parents?”

 

“We should!” Momo agrees enthusiastically. Mina just laughs lightly.

 

“Actually, I’m pretty sure that all our parents are at the same Christmas party. Kim Jisoo’s parents are hosting this year.”

 

“This year?” Dahyun asks curiously.

 

“Yeah, I think there’s a large circle of parents that always host a holiday dinner. I’ve been to it a couple of times when I was younger.”

 

“Oh, I feel like I’ve attended something like that too when I was in like, middle school or something.” Nayeon muses thoughtfully. “Was it at Jennie Kim’s place last year?”

 

“Yeah, and my parents hosted a couple of years back.”

 

“Huh.” Dahyun muses thoughtfully. “I’ve definitely tagged along back then with my parents. I’m surprised I haven’t met any of you guys until now.”

 

Jeongyeon suddenly squints suspiciously at the pale girl. “Hey wait a minute- I think I’ve met you at one of them!”

 

Dahyun jumps in her seat. “What? Why didn’t you say hi??”

 

“You were the little pale squishy one who wouldn’t stop crying because there was no more cocktail shrimp-

 

“OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH WHY DON’T WE JUST PRETEND WE’VE NOT MET TILL NOW.” Dahyun forcefully cuts off the older girl’s sentence. Mina tries to hide her scoff but fails miserably. Tzuyu just outright starts laughing.

 

“DON’T BE RUDE.” Dahyun snaps at them, but there’s a good-humored glint in her eyes as she watches the rest of them all slowly start to fail at holding their laughter. Chaeyoung almost chokes on her meatloaf and Tzuyu has to smack her back a couple of times to keep it up.

 

Sana appraises the younger girl with the most amused expression. “Oh my.”

 

Nayeon snickers. “Somehow, I’m not even remotely surprised.”

 

 “No one asked any of you!” Dahyun groans, arms crossed over her chest but they can all see the smile teasing at the corners of her lips.

 

Jihyo wipes a tear that’s slipped out of her eye from laughing too hard. “Either way, I’m glad we know you now- happy holidays, everyone. Thank you, Momo and Mina, for cooking us all this food we can eat into next week. And thank you, everyone, for coming!”

 

“Cheers!” Nayeon holds up a sloshing glass of limoncello. Everyone else follows suit.

 

“To excellent Chinese cuisine!”

 

“To being abandoned by our parents!”

 

“To the insect squatting in Jihyo’s room!”

 

“Cheers!”

 

It’s a little chaotic and a little loud, but there’s an overabundance of food, a ton of string lights, and an eighty-degree house featuring a lazy susan (Jihyo’s folks really like to keep it warm) and Chaeyoung thinks she wouldn’t want to spend her Christmas any other way.