“I’m sorry for all of that,” Jihyo told Jongkook, as she took a seat beside him on the floor, their backs resting on the couch. She came from the kitchen with two cans of beer for each of them, and passed one to Jongkook, after having to pry herself away from her sister who wanted to sleep with her that night. Jongkook had been checking out his messages and his friends’ updates on social media, as he waited for Jihyo to get back.

Across from them, the clock’s hands moved to indicate that it was already midnight. Jihyo clinked her can of beer with Jongkook’s and greeted him, “Merry Christmas, Oppa!”

“Merry Christmas too, Sooyeon-ah!” Then, he looked around, and seeing that they were indeed the only ones left in the room, gave her a quick peck on the lips. However, Jihyo put her arms around him, just after placing her can of beer on the table, and drew him in closer to lengthen the kiss. And after that dinner, Jongkook could not turn her down, also embracing her, as he felt himself get intoxicated by the taste and feeling of her in his arms.

When air became too much of a need, they rested their foreheads against each other. “What are you sorry for?” Jongkook broke the silence, staring deeply into Jihyo’s eyes. 

The thought of their Christmas Eve prompted Jihyo to pull herself back from Jongkook’s embrace. Then, she explained simply, “My family was too overbearing. I hope you didn’t feel put on the spot.”

“Oh that,” Jongkook smiled as he remembered how Jihyo jumped in and gave an answer he most definitely didn’t expect. 

Earlier that night during their Christmas dinner, the women of the family made a sumptuous feast out of the gwalmegi Jongkook and Jihyo’s father caught earlier that day (of course, Jongkook managed to catch one despite the lack of experience; but Jihyo’s father had only caught one as well so they cheated and bought more from the market). The dinner table was filled with stories and laughter, mostly at Jihyo’s expense, as her siblings didn’t think that the embarrassing stories they told Jongkook days before had been enough. 

Eventually, however, curiosity got the better of Jihyo’s mother, and she began to pry about how they started dating. Jongkook wanted to be swallowed by the earth, as Jihyo’s father took the bait, and started telling the story Jongkook shared while they were fishing. 

“I should have known! Jongkook-hyeong would never have initiated this himself,” Seungmoon exclaimed in realization. Jongkook felt his face heat up in embarrassment, but Jihyo simply laughed off Seungmoon’s remarks and held onto Jongkook’s hand. 

“Yah stop embarrassing your Hyeong!” Jihyo scolded a sniggering Seungmoon. 

By then, the gwalmegi and other side dishes have been consumed, so Jihyo’s sister brought out a fresh cream cake for dessert. “I hope you can make an exception, Kim Jongkook-ssi. Unnie said you rarely ate sweet things, but it’s Christmas so this is kind of our tradition,” she said as she passed on a plate to him. Then, she proceeded to call on the rest of the family, “Okay, now that everyone has their cake slices, get out your presents.”

When the children of the Song family grew up, the family moved the gift-giving tradition to their Christmas Eve dinner; after all, there was no Santa Harabeoji to wait for anymore. Instead, everyone brought gifts for the rest of the family, and shared these gifts with a bit of a message over Christmas dessert. Jihyo warned Jongkook about this, so they managed to whip up their own gifts for everyone else.

The order was always from the youngest to the oldest, so the family inserted Jongkook in the order to go before Jihyo’s parents. “Before you begin, Jongkook-ah, I must say you really shouldn’t have bothered. You’re our guest after all; you should only be receiving gifts, not giving them out,” Jihyo’s mother said. 

“Aniyo, eomonim. It was my pleasure. Although, I hope you would let me skip giving Jihyo my Christmas gift. I would like to…” he drawled out, trying to find the right words without offending them. 

But Jihyo’s mother threw in a big gasp, “Eomona, could it be?”

Jihyo interrupted, knowing well what her mother was insinuating. “Aniyo Eomma!! It’s not anything like that.”

“Wae? You don’t know that Seongim-ah!” her mother tried to insist. 

“I do! Oppa won’t try to propose over the holidays!” Jihyo practically screamed in annoyance. Jongkook held onto Jihyo’s arm to calm her down, upon seeing her mother’s face darken in disappointment. Jihyo’s father just drank from his own glass of wine. 

There was a bit of silence after that, with Jihyo’s siblings focusing their attention solely on their slices of cake. They knew better than to get in between their mother and sister. 

Jongkook was a flurry of emotions, but above all, he was worried that Jihyo’s mother was beginning to doubt his intentions. But this was Jihyo’s family, and, more importantly, the decision to marry was something he had put in her hands for now. It would only be natural that Jihyo be the one to talk about this to her family. So, he settled on his seat, opting to squeeze Jihyo’s hand, to calm her down and let her know he was letting her take the lead. 

“Don’t the two of you want to get married?” Jihyo’s mother asked, her voice barely above a whisper, as she played around with her own slice of cake. 

“We do,” Jihyo immediately answered, and the answer not only gave cause for Jihyo’s parents to feel happy and relieved, but also caught Jongkook by surprise. When Jihyo realized what she had said she looked to her side and saw Jongkook’s eyes, still wide in surprise. She gave him a shy smile, and eventually, Jongkook’s face of disbelief smoothed out into a loving smile, before he tilted his head to indicate that Jihyo’s family was still waiting for her to explain further. 

“Look, eomma, appa, Jongkook-Oppa and I discussed this already, and we agreed there’s a good time for it. It’s just… not now,” Jihyo explained as simply as she could, before taking a bite out of her cake slice and looking back at Jongkook, who was still smiling at her. 

Her mother wanted to inquire further — her daughter was turning 40 by the following year, and she definitely wanted grandchildren; what were they waiting for? But, her husband gave her a pointed glare, before tipping his head to drive her attention to the couple who were smiling at each other. 

Jihyo’s mother rested her case upon seeing how lovingly they looked at each other. No matter what they decide on, what mattered to her was that someone will take care of Jihyo and will love her. She shared a smile with her husband, who, after the fishing trip, was just elated that his daughter found someone like Jongkook. 

“Alright, arasseo. I’ll stop prying, but Jongkook-ah, do give me a heads-up when the time comes okay? If you just drop the bomb, I might get a heart attack,” Jihyo’s mother concluded for them all, successfully distracting Jongkook from staring at Jihyo. 

“Ah ne, eomoni,” Jongkook answered, a blush creeping into his cheeks.

It was a fond memory for Jongkook. The moment Jihyo’s mother raised the question of marriage was a disconcerting time for him, but he was astonished by Jihyo’s answer.

“Wae? Why are you quiet Oppa? Were you offended by my answer?” Jihyo asked him with a worried look on her face. 

“Aniya, Sooyeon-ah. It’s just… you sounded so sure when you said it. It was just… surprising. I honestly expected you were going to deny it or try to divert the topic,” Jongkook explained. 

“Did you want me