“Alright, hush!” Jaeseok instructed the rest of the Runningman members who were huddled in one corner of their waiting room. In his hand was a box filled with ripped pieces of paper bearing all the members’ names. It was their annual year-end team dinner, and since the fifth year of Runningman, they decided that, instead of always delegating the job towards the maknae (they finally took pity on Kwangsoo, who, since Lizzy and Joongki’s departure from the show always single-handedly organized the team dinner), the two names to be drawn by Jaeseok will be the designated organizers for the year.

Jaeseok put the box on the desk beside him, and leaned backwards to peek at the names. He had a naughty smile on his face, and he scanned the anxious faces of all the members.

It was Seokjin who first budged, “Yah Jaeseok-ah! Just tell us who it is. Stop making us wait!”

“Are you sure you all want to know?” Jaeseok asked, his eyebrows raised mischievously.

There was a chorus of yes around him, but, cheeky as he was, he asked again, “Are you really sure?”

“Hyung! Just tell us. Jaebal! I still need to help Goeun with something!” Donghoon’s voice was raised now.

Jaeseok defeatedly sighed, “You’re all no fun.” Then, after a beat, he revealed, “It’s the lovebirds. Jihyo and Jongkook will be the organizers this year. It would have been more fun to make this into a guessing game, so we can tease them about this.”

“And just because of that, I’ll make sure you’re all having chicken for our team dinner,” Jongkook huffed, but nonetheless took the opportunity to put his arm around Jihyo’s shoulder.

Jihyo, however, had other plans, and she removed herself from Jongkook’s hold saying, “Absolutely not. If I’m a co-organizer, we’re definitely not serving just chicken for the team dinner.”

“I was just kidding, Sooyeon-ah,” Jongkook basically pouted, and Jihyo had to fight the smile that started to creep up on her face. He was adorable when he was being like this.

Before they could further drown within their own bubble, however, they began to hear gagging sounds around them, and Jongkook realized that the rest of the members saw their interaction. He began to thrash around and threaten to shut Donghoon and Sechan up with violence. Jaeseok and Seokjin just laughed in their little corner, while Somin escaped Jongkook’s wrath by moving to her unnie’s side and embracing her. Eventually, Jongkook ended up chasing after his targets around the room.

“We mean it though, Jihyo-yah,” Seokjin spoke up when Jongkook was far consumed in chasing Donghoon and Sechan. “Please make sure we have good food to eat for our team dinner. I’m seriously not attending if we’ll end up having chicken .

Jihyo laughed, “Arasseo, oppa. I’ll make sure we’ll have a good meal. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Jihyo,” Seokjin answered.

Before Jihyo could even further placate him, Jaeseok intercepted, “Jihyo will make it happen, hyung. You know Jongkook will always end up following her anyway. That’s just how it goes with those two.”

Jihyo didn’t really feel like affirming or denying the statement, so she just giggled before turning back her attention towards her boyfriend who was now reprimanding his younger friends.

“I really think this is too much, love,” Jongkook said, as he looked at the numerous paper bags lined up on Jihyo’s dining table.

Instead of choosing a place to dine at, Jihyo decided it would be better for them to host the dinner party in her backyard. Jongkook initially agreed to the idea, mostly because it meant that they would be safer and have a more private gathering. But, that quickly changed when Jihyo revealed that she planned to fix the venue and cook all the food herself. It was why the paper bags contained various ingredients and materials for decorating.

“It’s nothing, oppa,” Jihyo tried to argue. “I just have to whip all these up. I’ll have the entire day anyway to cook for everyone. Then, I’ll just have to blow up those balloons and put up those streamers. You can go and hang them for me; I’m too short to reach the beams of the pagoda anyway.”

Jongkook didn’t really feel good about Jihyo’s plan, and when he gazed on the counter, he found the list of dishes she wished to cook. There were eight different items on the list, and while he enjoyed the fact that his girlfriend had thought through this menu from the appetizers down to the different viands and the desserts, the plan looked incredibly daunting. He trusted her enough to cook well, but cooking eight different things alone was an entirely separate matter.

But then, he glanced back at her and saw the sweet smile she had on her face. She was excited for this, and Jongkook really couldn’t burst that bubble. He chalked it up to fate this time; he needed to just support her on this one.

“How can I help?” he chose to ask instead, not wanting to dampen her spirits. 

She continued chopping the spring onions on her board, not even bothering to look at him as she said, “I can do all the cooking, oppa. Can you start with the decorations? Go and indulge your artistic side.”

“Are you sure? I can help you prep the ingredients,” he tried to grab the garlic she stowed beside her chopping board.

She removed his hand away, and tried to push him out of the kitchen. “Aniya, oppa. Na gwenchana. Just go fix the backyard. I’ll have these things running. Give me some time; I’ll follow you there.”

The hours stretched on as Jongkook continued to make his way through the balloons he had yet to put up. The streamers were already up on the beams, and there were a couple that he hung up so that they would cascade down the table where Jihyo intended to put the dishes she was cooking. Every once in a while, Jongkook would glance through the glass door to see how she was doing in the kitchen, but she seemed to be pretty at peace with her tasks. His fears started to subside, and he instead focused on the remaining decorations. He was about to finish everything on his own.

That was until he heard curses from the kitchen. He quickly ran back, only to see Jihyo huddled over the stove.

“Love, are you alright?” Jongkook asked.

Jihyo turned around. She was obviously tired and frustrated, as she said, “I burned the rice.”

“What?” he clarified.

Jihyo huffed, “Everything went well, and I decided to cook the rice on this pot because it’s supposedly going to taste better instead of the rice cooker, but I missed the timing.”

Jongkook looked at the clock, before suggesting, “Well, we can cook another batch and use the rice cooker this time. We still have one and a half hours before they arrive anyway. You can just leave it on and we can finish the decorations before you go take a shower.”

“But that means I won’t have time for the riceballs,” Jihyo sulked.

“Riceballs? What riceballs?” Jongkook was now confused, considering that he saw quite an extravagant array of dishes already set-up on the kitchen counter. Jihyo already outdid herself; cooking riceballs were just stretching everything by hundreds of miles.

She took her phone in her hand, and opened up a picture of riceballs shaped like snowmen, their features made of seaweed. It looked very intricate, and Jongkook had to admit that it would make a wonderful addition to Jihyo’s appealing dishes. “These! Now I don’t have time to make these. This is a disaster,” her head dropped.

Jongkook really wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. She had just wrangled through seven different (and difficult) dishes, and still managed to burn what was supposed to be the simplest thing to cook. But he knew her well enough to know that she did things passionately, and when it came to the people she loved, that effort was doubled (even tripled, sometimes).

So, instead, he reached out and put his hand on her waist, getting her to face to him. He tilted her head up so their eyes could meet, “Sooyeon-ah, it’s not a disaster. Look at all these dishes you’ve finished. They all look beautiful. Are you sure I can’t eat them yet?”

She playfully glanced at him with disdain before giggling, “I’m going to kill you if you touch the rest of my dishes before the members arrive.”

He laughed heartily at that, before pulling her in for an embrace, “Seriously though, I’m so proud of you. These look delicious; you’ve outdone yourself, love. I’m sure the members can do well without the riceballs.” He couldn’t resist himself, and ended up burying his face on the crook of her neck. He missed running his hands through her hair, but after her change of hairstyle, there was no denying that he also liked the easy access to her pulse point th