twenty four
In The Wrong OrderSeven months pregnant, and Jihyo’s honestly fed up with it. When exactly is the baby coming? From all the kicks to be ribs to the swollen limbs and her bloated stomach, she feels right about done with this. She’s tired of the mood swings, and the constant craving for ice cream — this kid’s giving her a sweet tooth, and she doesn’t want to get diabetes anytime soon.
So when Somin raises something up on one of their routined weekly calls, she has to grit her teeth and remind herself not to hang up.
“A baby shower.” Jihyo repeats, holding up the shirt in her hands that she’s in the middle of folding. “We already did that on Running Man.”
“That was different! You always say whatever we do for television doesn’t really count.” Somin reminds her, raising a point that someone else probably said (sounds like Jaesuk, Jihyo would never say that).
”You’re almost ready for the baby! Please let me do it, I promise you won’t even have to lift a finger.” Somin all but begs into the phone. Jihyo knows she’s not supposed to give in so easily like that, but Somin can be very persuasive when she wants to. It’s not just a betrayer trait for the show, she’s just very compelling like that.
“What about the money? I’m not paying for some lame party.”
“A baby shower.” Somin corrects exasperatedly, but doesn’t let that bring her down. “Jongkook oppa says he’ll pay!”
“He did?” Jihyo scowls, throwing his shirt back into the laundry basket. Jongkook could never say no to Somin, and coincidentally, he’s at the gym while this is happening even though he knows they call at this time.
“Please, unnie. Anyway, even if you say no I have Goeun unnie on my side and she’s going to beg you too.” Somin mentions her other sidekick, and Jihyo already knows this is also Ha Ha’s idea. She adds this to the list of little things Ha Donghoon has done this pregnancy to irritate the heck out of her.
That man needed some form of drama in his life, and Goeun was no better. They were like matchmakers, or scriptwriters, really. It was exhausting to keep up with their interest in other people’s love lives.
“I don’t know... I don’t really need a party.”
“You can invite all your friends. Yoonju unnie? Oh, you can invite Lee Dong Wook! I’ve always wanted to meet him.”
It would be nice to see her other friends again. “Yah, is this for me or you?”
“You, unnie!” Somin chuckles nervously. “Just shooting suggestions!”
Jihyo sighs, picking up the black shirt again (Jongkook’s, and his pile was filled with similar colours). “You’ve already started planning, haven’t you?”
“... Just... mentioned it to some people...”
“And I don’t have to do anything?”
“Nope!” Somin shakes her head earnestly, even though Jihyo can’t see her.
“Okay.” Jihyo relents, giving in. She really had no way of saying no to the younger girl. “Do whatever you want.”
“You won’t regret it!” Somin shrieks, and she has to lower the volume on her speakerphone. Then a long list of rambling about what they’ll be doing follows, and Jihyo tries not to sigh — she’s not a fan of gatherings, especially when there’s no alcohol involved. That’s number one on her list to drink after the baby comes, but sushi’s a close second.
She chimes in with the occasional sounds of agreement so Somin wouldn’t think she‘s tuning her out (she kind of is), when the main door opens.
Jongkook notices her with the pile of laundry and her phone by the side, and immediately brightens up upon seeing her. He makes a beeline straight to her, smelling slightly of lemons and his hair damp from the shower he probably took at the gym. With one eyebrow raised, he points to her phone.
She shows the caller ID to him, and he smirks, amused. It doesn’t deter him from leaning low and pressing a kiss to the side of her cheek, just shy of her lips.
“—and Goeun unnie says that Dream and Soul helped to pick out the gift for you! Oh, can you imagine the play dates you’ll have with them?” Somin’s still going, but Jihyo forgets to answer.
Instead, she tilts her head up to receive a proper kiss from Jongkook, who joins her on the couch after carefully moving the laundry to the coffee table. She abandons the shirt she’s folding again, grasping his chin with her fingers while he plants a larger kiss on her lips. Out of all welcome back kisses they’ve shared, this was pretty high on the scale.
“Unnie?”
“It sounds good, Somin ah.” Jongkook chimes in, pulling away reluctantly. Jihyo her lips disappointedly, frowning as she hooks her arms around his neck.
“Oh, oppa?” Somin asks, startled. “I didn’t realize you were back.”
“You need to give Jihyo some time to breathe, Somin.” He chuckles, leaning in to kiss his very impatient girlfriend’s nose.
“But—“
“I’ll talk to you next time.” Jihyo promises, reaching out to end the call. “Bye, Somin!”
“Unnie—“
She hangs up, and usually she would feel bad, but not this time. Jongkook reels her back in with another kiss, this time deeper and longer, their tongues pressing against each other. His hand dips down towards her baby bump while he kisses her, eyes closed. He could kiss her all day long if they could; she was just that addictive to him.
Jihyo pulls away for air, hugging Jongkook tight while he nuzzles his chin on her head.
“What was that?” Jihyo breathes, sending vibrations all over their skin.
“Thought I’d entertain you while Somin talked.” He grins, taking her hand and pressing his lips to her knuckles.
“I hadn’t realized that you had a .”
“Hardly.” Jongkook laughs. “You looked like you needed a distraction.”
She’s not proud of it, but sometimes she can’t quite pay attention to Somin’s incessant chatter. One thing she does remember though, is the younger woman letting slip about Jongkook’s involvement. “Did you really tell her that she could go ahead and plan a party?”
“A baby shower.” He corrects gently, like how Somin did minutes ago. “Come on, it will be fun.” Again, he echoes Somin’s words, rubbing her cheeks with his thumbs while she pulls a face.
He kind of owes Somin. She had this planned for months, ever since he stole her idea for Jihyo’s last episode before her hiatus. He knows for a fact that she would rather stay at home than socialize, so he better step up his game if he was going to persuade her to enjoy this.
“I don’t know who to invite.” Jihyo mumbles into his chest. “This is horrible, I don’t want to see anyone. Can’t we just stay home?” She raises her brows suggestively, grinning.
Yeah, this is going to be harder than imagined. Jongkook tucks her head under his chin, feeling the warmth radiating from her and the slightly swollen bump between them. “As much as I love you, we have plenty of time for that.”
He can’t think of another blessed moment other than this. Holding her in his arms was the best feeling in the world, and he never wants to leave.
Call him old fashioned, but seeing her fold the laundry, looking so domestic while she was chatting to Somin? It made him envision a life they might live in the future, just him and her, and a little baby girl. He wants to experience this every day for the rest of his life; it’s what he’s been missing out on for years, and now it’s finally perfect.
He can’t get Kang Gary’s words out of his mind. The punk’s right, they deserve this. There’s no doubt in the world that he is in love with her, and they have a baby on the way — it’s time to settle down.
He kind of wants to marry her right now.
Instead, he kisses the crown of her head, changing tactics. “Anyway, we don’t have to invite a lot of people. Just family.”
“Ugh.” Jihyo pulls a face. “Do we have to invite my mother?”
Jongkook hides a smile behind her hair, amused. Jihyo’s mother has been calling more frequently as the due date nears, and she had high praise for her future son-in-law, but less for her daughter herself. “We don’t have to. Friends only.”
“Come on,” He nudges her again, this time playing with her hair while she sulks. “We can have all the kids playing around too. You’d love to see them again.”
An idea pops up in his head. “We can even invite Kang Gary! Maybe we can meet that cute son of his.”
“Since when were you bros with him?”
“Jihyo.” He pulls away so that he can look directly at her, smirking. “Is this... jealousy?”
He finds it so funny, to the point that he can’t wipe the silly grin off his face. They’ve both agreed that Gary did hurt them, but what can they do? Family is family. Kinda. It’s hard to argue about it because they never liked to fight.
Jihyo snorts, unbothered. She could never stay mad at him (and maybe in extension, Somin). “Whatever.” She rolls her eyes, managing a scowl. “But I’m not paying for anything.”
“Of course not.” Jongkook grins, tilting her chin up with his fingers playfully. “Now, I believe we were in the middle of something...”
Jihyo purses her lips, narrowing the gap between them while he closes his eyes in anticipation... Only for his lips to land on her cheek as she reaches for the laundry basket instead.
“Laundry.” She finishes, throwing a crumpled shirt at him. “If you mess this up, Kim Jongkook, I will invite your mother.”
It’s not the worst threat he’s heard, but he nods anxiously, afraid to anger a pregnant woman. She had her limits, and today was not the day to test them.
True to her word, Somin and in extension, Byul, plan some kind of baby shower that’s more of an excuse to gather. The women know Jongkook and Jihyo well enough to plan a small, intimate gathering as opposed to a big one with other friends and family. In fact, Jongkook goes ahead and opens the apartment for the gathering. It’s the least he can do for Somin (who’s excited to plan a party anyway).
They don’t usually hold large gatherings like this (not since Somin’s housewarming party), and they especially don’t go all out to invite their families. They never find the time to anyway, but this was an exception with two of their beloved members going through a big milestone.
The last time they had their spouses and children over, Ha Ha only had one kid and Sukjin’s son was still losing his baby fat in his cheeks. Ha Ha has three now (he still jokes about getting a vasectomy), and Hyunwoo’s big enough to worry about college!
Still, it’s nice to see everyone. Even Kang Gary
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