25 April 2020

Ji Hyo was glad that she was able to have a rest day from the tedious week of filming her upcoming drama, ‘Did we love?’. Fortunately, her rest day falls on boyfriend’s birthday. Initially, she was scheduled for filming for her drama that day, but she was thankful that she was able to complete the scenes required of her, yesterday. And she was relieved that, she had no scenes of hers that required filming that day.

Reaching for her handphone by the bedside, her face lit up with joy when she found a message from him.

From: Kookie <3

Good morning love, thank you for your birthday wish, my phone battery died last night. It would be better if you don’t have filming today. I miss you so much and want to spend time with you on a day like this. My birthday rarely falls on a day when I have no schedule.

It had always been Ji Hyo’s habit to send birthday greetings to her close friends and family when the clock strikes midnight. She likes it that way, and she loved it especially if people wish her a happy birthday at that time. And, she had sent her boyfriend a birthday wishes when she was on the way home from filming last night.

The smile on her face radiated from within as she read his message. She bit her lip when she thought of paying him a surprise visit to celebrate his birthday with him. Besides, that’s what he had mentioned in his message.

To: Kookie <3

Good morning love, I’ll try to come after filming today. I miss you too!

A victorious grin was plastered on her face as she loved how ambiguous she sounded in the text that she had sent him. She didn’t want to lie deliberately to him, for he doesn’t like it.

From: Kookie <3

Please do! I miss you so much!

His instant response caused the plastered smile on her face to widen. With her plastering smile, she went to wash up and tied her hair up into a ponytail before getting her busy day started.

After being together on Running Man for so many years, they had just got together in a relationship for almost a year. And this birthday of his would be the first time, she would be able to spend with him since they got together. No one, not a single soul, has known the fact that they were indeed dating. They had kept their relationship away from everyone: friends; family and even their managers, as they wanted privacy for themselves and had decided to only announce their relationship to them when it’s fully stabilized.

Over the past month, she had racked her brain to think of a present to give him. The fact that she had no one to seek advice or suggestions of what he would like as a present, made it tougher for her. After thorough consideration, she had decided a handmade gift would be able to convey the message of her love and sincerity towards him.

Initially, she had wanted to bake a healthier version of butter cookies. She had even customised a set of cookie moulds that would shape the cookies into various expressions Jong Kook has, on a tiger cartoon with buff arms which was supposed to represent Jong Kook. However, she felt that wouldn’t be enough as a birthday present and so she continued to do her extensive research.

With her extensive research, she had decided to make a healthy birthday cake for him and continued on with the idea of the tiger shaped butter cookie, as decorations on top of the cake. She knew how much he liked natural sugar, instead of artificial ones, so she decided to make a pie like cake, topped with a variety of fruits with no artificial sugar.

When she had done with baking her butter cookies and assembling her healthy chocolate no-bake fruit pie together, she started getting ready to leave her house to his. What a wonderful plan it would be to spend their time together in his house, cuddling on his black leather sofa while feeding each other the cake that she had made.

-

Standing before his door, in her black sundress, she pressed the doorbell. While waiting for his response, she deliberately tidied her hair with her free hand while her other hand tightly held on to the bag where she had bagged the healthy fruit cake. As milliseconds turned to seconds, as the moment passed by, she became nervous.

Spreading his broad muscular arms wide, pulling her into an embrace, he vividly welcomed her to his house.

“Love, it’s you!” He was elated and pecked her cheek.

Pulling apart from the embrace, he clarified, “Didn’t you have filming today?”

Her left arm was encircled around his waist while his right arm was on her shoulders as he closed his house door. Together, they walked towards his sofa and plopped down on his sofa, in front of his television which has its programmes running.

“I had completed mine yesterday,” She beamed while clinging onto her boyfriend’s arm, “And looked what I’ve prepared for you?”

Looking over, he asked, “What is it?”

“Tada!” She cooed, flashing the bag which contained the cake.

“What’s that?” He prompted, again, in his gentle voice.

Setting the cake down on his coffee table, she slowly removed the cake’s packaging to unveil her homemade cake. Her head turned to Jong Kook whose eyes sparkled with joy at the side of her present.

“My birthday present to you!” She cheered.

He flashed a gummy smiled at her; he couldn’t help but love his girlfriend more as she understood his taste so well. The way the fruits settled on the cake spelt delicious to him. His attention was captured by the tiger cookies on the cake.

“Omo, is that me playing soccer?” He asked, pointing to a tiger cookie running with a soccer ball.

Nodding, she pointed to another tiger cookie, which has a fiery flame of fire behind the tiger character.

“Hahaha, that’s me when I’m annoyed,” He laughed and pointed to the centre of the cake, where there was a tiger cookie with heart-shaped eyes, “This is me right now!”

She beamed at his words.

“But oppa, this is the only gift that I had prepared for you, do you like it?” She asked, feeling slightly not confident.

“Like it? I love it!” Jong Kook exclaimed and pulled her into an embrace, “But I love you more!”

His response caused her worries to vanish. Beaming, she gave him a peck and he returned the favour. Their gazes were interlocked and their lips a few inches apart, he couldn’t help but to inch in. And she closed her eyes, waiting for what would be a deep kiss.

Ding Dong! Their almost intimate moment was interrupted by the doorbell.

Pushing him away, she asked, “Oppa, are you expecting guests today?”

“Why would I when you are all I need?” He asked and walked over to check his intercom.

“What is Dong Hoon and Se Chan doing here?” He voiced out his thoughts, but it wasn’t the first time that they came uninvited, and asked her, “You didn’t invite them, did you?”

Shaking her head, she asked, “Why would I when I prefer to spend alone time with you? Besides, they don’t know that we are together, it would be suffocating pretend to just be a close friend with you when all I wanted is to be here and cuddle with you,” she gave him a winked.

“I’ll try to chase them away,” Jong Kook decided.

“But I think they came to celebrate your birthday with you,” Ji Hyo reminded.

Jong Kook opened the door and the two guests beamed vivaciously in their matching cone party hats, “Hyung!”

“Ah, what are you doing here?” Jong Kook asked impatiently.

“To celebrate your birthday with you, of course!” Dong Hoon immediately reasoned.

“Ah…” Jong Kook hesitated.

“Hyung, why are you not welcoming us in?” Se Chan questioned puzzledly.

Caught off guard by the question, he accidentally enabled them to barge into his house.

“Ji Hyo?”

“Ji Hyo noona?”

Simultaneously, the two who had just arrived asked.

Thud! The bag of items that the two had been holding together dropped on the floor.

“Hyung!” Se Chan whined in pain as the bag dropped on his toe.

“I’m sorry,” Dong Hoon apologised.

“Se Chan-ah, do have a seat here,” Ji Hyo patted at the seat beside her.

Se Chan was about to do as instructed but the clearing of the throat by his favourite hyung, Jong Kook, attracted his attention.

The laser glare from Jong Kook’s eyes caused Se Chan to gulp down a lump of his saliva and he sat at the edge of the sofa, away from Ji Hyo.

“So, Ji Hyo what brings you here?” Dong Hoon asked, now everyone was seated on the sofa.

“I’m just here to wish Jong Kook a happy birthday,” Ji Hyo calmly reasoned with her legs were crossed, and she seemed unfazed by Dong Hoon’s interrogation.

Whining, Se Chan asked, “Alone? Why didn’t you get us along?”

“Yah! Is there any issue with it?” Jong Kook exclaimed in annoyance.

“Se Chan-ah, can’t you see that the two are together?” Dong Hoon chided the younger man.

“How?” Se Chan asked, “Jong Kook hyung had always denied being a relationship and dating Ji Hyo noona.”