The alarm clock was becoming annoying for the occupant on the bed and so with a wistful sigh, her hand clumsily rises from the covers and hits the off button. With another sigh, she gets up and fixes her bed and sits for a while. 

 

She checks on her phone, and she laughs as she imagines how the scenario would be if the running man members could see her now, they would probably drop their jaws at her checking social media. She chuckles at the idea and replies thank you to everyone who sent her a birthday greeting, another one which might cause the other members to be puzzled. Her smile disappears as she realizes that the person who would never forget ger birthday hasn't given her a greeting yet. 

 

"Yah Kim Jongkook where are you, you stupid fool" she grumbles and places her phone on the bedside table before deciding to go to the bathroom to freshen up for the day. No use for waiting on somebody anyway. 

 

After taking a bath, she stares at her reflection by the mirror. 'You're 43 today Ji Hyo, it's the age that you promised to get married' and with those thoughts she comes out of the bathroom and prepares for the day. 

 

---

 

The moment she comes downstairs, her parents and her brother greet her a happy birthday. 'Even with the cake and candles' she thinks with her upturned lips and soon enough, they're eating breakfast and sharing them the plans she had for today. 

 

After breakfast, the doorbell rings and Jihyo runs to open the door to let her guest in.

"Unnie!!!!! Happy Birthday!!!"  It's Somin and she greets her senior with a hug and a loud voice that Jihyo finds herself surprised at the intensity

 

She and Jihyo had promised to have half of her special day spent with her. Jihyo leaves her friend with her parents and brother to talk to as she gets dressed and ready to go out. 

 

 

When Jihyo comes down, wearing a nice blue checkered dress she's met with gasps of surprises. 

 

"Unnie!!!! Yapuda!!" 

 

"Why are you so dressed up? Must be meeting with a guy huh?" Seung Moon slyly comments and is met with Jihyo's death glare and Somin's laughter

 

"Jihyo, my daughter, it's so rare to see you this dressed up that I forgot you're a celebrity" 

"ah eomma it's special today, I might as well come out looking decent "

 

She gives her brother and her parents a hug before promising that she'd be home by dinner and they wave her goodbye from their gate as she drives away with Somin in the passenger seat. 

 

"Unnie! I love your family, they're so welcoming, now what's the first thing on our list?" 

 

"They're fond of you too Somin, and we, we're going shopping! because it's been a long time since I last shopped for something I really want" 

 

--- 

 

"Waaah! There are so many choices! Unnie I think this one would go with your style!" 

 

"Unnie! Do you think Sechan would like this?" 

 

 

"Yes! you should buy that for him!" 

 

"Unnie aren't you buying anything for Jongkook oppa?" 

 

"I was thinking of buying him a pink sweater, since all he has are black clothes" 

 

"ohhhh unnie! that would be so cute!!!" 

 

"Unnie do you think this suits me?" 

 

"I have a feeling that it does! Let's try our clothes on Somin-ah" 
 

---

 

After all the shopping, they decide to go get some rest and eat at a restaurant for an early lunch. 

 

"Unnie, we have so much clothes and stuff that we bought, I'm happy and tired at the same time" 

 

"We can put it in the car before we go move around again, then we should get a massage and go to a salon" 

 

"Okay! I'm so excited!" 

 

With that, they were silenced when their order finally was brought to the table. While eating, small talk ensues and their table for two is filled with laughter. 

 

When Jihyo excuses herself to go to the bathroom, Somin immediately texts Sechan. 

 

"Operation distract Jihyo Unnie is a go" 

 

"What phase are you in already?" 

 

"We're at the mall, we're going to get a massage and we're going to visit a salon" 

 

"Okay, we're still preparing, make sure to tell Jihyo noona at around 5pm that there's a place you wanted to always go to"  

 

"Alright, copy" 

 

Somin felt like she was an unercover spy and she was really doing well. Jihyo unnie would never suspect a thing and she'd really be surprised. She smiled and happily day dreamed of what would happen later and when Ji Hyo comes back, they pay the bill - Jihyo had insisted that it was her treat but Somin said that she should be the one who should pay so they ended up with an agreement that both parties pay half- and run off to the parking lot to leave their shopping bags. 

 

Without the shopping bags anymore, they stroll around just like normal people around the mall, they even buy some cotton candy and ice cream before going throught their schedule once again. 

 

After the massage and salon, they look much more pampered and they decide to enjoy a movie - a horror movie, yes, much to their surprise, they found themselves wanting to face their fear together- and bought popcorn and before going inside the cinema. 

 

After the movie, they were sure that everyone else was a traumatized as them.

 

"Yah Somin let's not look at them, they might recognize us" 

 

"That's a good plan unnie, okay, let's stay back for a while" 

 

 But of course, they were also shy because they were sure that their screams were the loudest in the cinema. In order to refresh themselves, they go to a coffee shop and get some rest there too. While the two women enjoy a cup of coffee and a cake by their sides, Somin decides to bring up the surprise. 

 

"Ne unnie, after this, can we go to a place I've always wanted to show you?" 

 

Jihyo ponders for a little bit and checks her phone, it was still 4:30, her family must think that she's be home by 8 or 9. So what's the harm of spending more time outside?

 

Somin worries on the inside as Jihyo does not immediatelt answer, she sees Jihyo typing away on her phone before she answers.

 

"Okay, let's do it! What's the harm of staying out until late hours" Jihyo smiles brightly at Somin and she rejoices at her small victory. 'Jihyo unnie must've sent a text to her family telling them to not wait for her anymore'. Somin thinks to herself. 

 

She texts Sechan "It's set already, we'll be there after coffee" 

 

"Okay, copy" 

 

But she can't help but be curious so she sends another text message. 

 

"How's the groom-to-be?" 

 

"Tensed, he looks like he's going to kill us all if we fail this or if Jihyo noona says no to him" 

 

"I doubt that unnie would say no to him, tell him that Ji Hyo unnie has a soft spot only for him, that would calm him down" 

 

"Alright, take care there and don't spill the beans!" 

 

"Copy"

 

Somin smiles at the clueless woman sitting in front of her drinking a cup of coffee. 

 

--- 

 

"Somin-ah are you sure we're going the right way?" 

 

"I'm sure unnie! I really am, just turn left there and we're good" 

 

Jihyo felt a little unsure about it but her nerves were telling her that something was going to happen. And it was a big thing, her nerves told her. So, she follows Somin's instructions until they arrive at a parking area. 

 

"Somin, it looks empty, are you sure they're still in business?" 

 

"I'm sure! Now come on, let's get out of this car, people are waiting!" 

 

"Would the car be safe here? Are there no pickpockets here? Are you sure we'll still be alive by the end of the night?" 

 

Somin laughs at Jihyo and proceeds to pull on her arm as she locks the car door. 

 

"They're waiting unnie!!" 

 

"They? Who are they?" 

 

"You'll see unnie, you'll see" 

 

And once they step in the closed looking store, lights suddenly turn on and Haha, Kwang Soo, Sechan, Suk Jin, and Jae Suk step out to greet her with confetti and loud shouts of Happy Birthday Jihyo!

 

She jumps up from the sudden movement and relaxes when she realizes that it was a surprise party. 

 

"OH! OMO you guys shouldn't have!" 

 

"But it's your 41st birthday, this is special Jihyo" 

 

"Okay, stop being sappy and give me a hug already!" 

 

After greeting everyone, she counts them again and notices how a certain guy wasn't there. She supresses the urge to roll her eyes, first, he forgot to greet her and now? He wasn't even there when all of the members prepared something for her. 

 

"YAH where's Kim Jongkook? He's busy?" 

 

The members all exchange looks and Jae Suk answers for them

 

"I'm sure he'll try his best to come over, but he'll most likely be late" 

 

"Oh alright, so what do you guys have in mind for today?" 

 

And with that, they all enjoyed the food that the members had prepared for her. As well as the alcohol that came along with it and the chatter and laughter with her friends. 

 

It isn't long before it's already 7 and most of her companions seemed drunk already. She had promised to not drink a lot anymore, and so she was taking care of an overly drunk Kwang Soo. 

 

"Is Jongkook oppa still coming over?" Ji Hyo asks

 

"Oh he's coming over alright" Kwang Soo slurrs and the rest tense up as to what he's going to say

"I wonder what he's doing right now" Ji Hyo wonders out loud 

 

"Jihyo noona, he's going to---" Kwang Soo's slurred speech is stopped by Haha and Sechan's hand over his mouth and Jae Suk pacifies the situation by telling them about a game he prepared.

 

They ended up playing Race of Wits until 8pm 

 

---

 

She glanced at her watch, 8:30pm, she sighed and decided to drink a glass of water. She hears the boys cheer from their seats and she whirls around to see who the person is. 

 

Kim Jongkook. Finally, the man who she had waited to see on this special day. He looks neat and this time isn't dressed in his usual gym clothes. This time, he's dressed up nicely and is wearing pants that she finds herself wondering where he'd been. 

 

"I thought you were never going to arrive, I thought you were too scared" Kwang Soo teases and they all laugh until suddenly silence envelopes them. 

 

The rest of them stay silent as Jihyo walks over to where they are

 

"It's nice to see you Oppa" she starts and he smiles

 

"It's good to see you too Jihyo, Happy Birthday"

 

"Thank you" 

 

And with that, they were brought into the loud cheers and another round of race of wits. 

It isn't long before they decided Jihyo should be blindfolded when she receives her gifts and she should only take off the blindfold when she's opened it. 

She receives a lot of things from them, from So Min she received make up, from Se Chan she received socks, from Kwang Soo she received a shirt and dress, from Suk Jin she received books, from Haha she received a book about marriage - he joked around saying it was a manual for her marriage life- and from Jae Suk she received a beautiful bracelet. 

 

Last but not the least, when she was going to open Jongkook's gift, her hands were met with hair. Puzzled, she takes off the blindfold and stares dumbfounded at the man kneeling before her. 

 

"Jongkook oppa is this a prank?" 

 

"No" 

 

"Then what the heck are you doing?" 

 

"Making sure that a certain dummy gets married at the age she promised to" 

 

Hoots of the other members fill her ears as he pulls out a small box from his pocket and putting it on her hands. Jihyo shakes from all the adrenaline and gets teary eyed from the sudden proposal. 

"Before I forget, you're the dummy here you stupid fool! I thought you had forgotten my birthday and you weren't going to show up today, I'm so angry!" 

 

Ji Hyo hits him on his arm with a soft punch and she launches into tears suddenly that the members panic. 

 

"I'm sorry Jihyo, I just had to make sure that you'd be clueless all day." 

 

"Aren't you going to ask me?" 

 

"Ask you what?" 

 

"You " 

 

Everyone laughs at their little fight and all the members punch Jongkook playfully 

 

 "Kim Jongkook you dumb , WILL YOU MARRY ME" A drunk Kwang Soo slurrs out and the others laugh loudly at him and shut his mouth before he could steal the spotlight from the couple. 

 

Jongkook takes the hint and nods before steeling himself

 

"Jihyo, will you do the honor of marrying this man, with that I mean me?" 

 

Jihyo jokes around by pondering a bit, and loudly speaking

 

"Hmmmm he did make me feel a little sad today" 

 

"oh and he seems a little cold sometimes"

 

"and he seems like the type who's going to keep on arguing with me"

"he's also grumpy" 

 

And just at the moment where everyone thinks, she's going to shut him down completely, she says

 

"on the bright side, he does care so much about me which is why he nags a lot"

 

 

"he's also very sweet when he wants to be" 

 

"and I can never find a man like him ever again in life" 

 

 " he loves me and I love the dummy too so why not?" 

 

"Of course I'll marry you dummy" Cheers from the other members erupted around them and she smiles brightly at him. He wraps his arms around her, carrying her as if she weighed nothing. He looked into her eyes and saw the same intense emotion reflected on hers, she smiled at him and it almost took his breath away. 

 

Ah heck, he loved this woman so much.