It was the 26th of December, a day after Christmas. Ji Hyo spent Christmas Eve at her parent’s house and left early on Christmas Morning to spend her time alone in her new house.  After cutting her hair for a change, a new house for her came next. It was still near from her previous house to where her parents and siblings lived but still managed to be far away enough from them.

She slept like a log the whole day away and didn’t have anyone to bother her up until to the point of turning off her phone for unnecessary noise. It was only then after a day when she opened her phone and came in a flood of messages.  Her notifications were mostly from her friends in the industry wishing her a Merry Christmas. Opting to enjoy her morning again by indulging in a cereal for breakfast, too lazy to even cook for herself and settled herself in front of the TV to watch her missed drama episodes.

After a while of watching and finishing her second bowl of cereal is when she finally saw the calls that she had missed, usually from her own mother but the two missed calls from Jong Kook made in a short interval had her curiosity reach the peak.

“Eung, oppa, waeyo?” Ji Hyo greeted on the phone after a while of deciding to call him back.

“Where are you?” Jong Kook’s reply was quick and direct.

“My house.”

“Which one?” He replied, “I went last night but you weren’t at home, your mother answered the door.”

“The new one.” She said, “Want to come over? I can cook something.” Ji Hyo offered, standing up from her couch to walk over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. “You want pancakes?”

“Aniya, I’ll buy us something.”

A rustling sound that came from her phone had her curious, “Oppa, are you not hanging up?” Ji Hyo asked, instead of him hanging up, there was a request for a FaceTime.

“What do you want to eat?” Jong Kook already had a hoodie and his cap ready with his mask just under his chin. “Burger?”

“Sounds good, oppa.” She replied, “You’re not hanging up?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“It’s good to talk to someone while driving,” Jong Kook shrugged. He had just gotten to the elevator and down to the basement where his car was parked. “That way, I can also take your order.”

“If it’s a burger, then you already know my usual, oppa.” Ji Hyo headed back to the living room to retrieve her bowl and went back to the kitchen to wash it. “Oppa, is it okay if I brought you to the bathroom with me?”

“W-wae?” Jong Kook stuttered.

Ji Hyo chuckled, “Pabo-yah! It’s not like that.” she rolled her eyes at him, “I’ll wash my face then take a quick nap before you get here.”

“You’ll end the call when you sleep?”

She took note of the sudden drop in his tone and suddenly wanted to lift it up again. “I won’t,” she smiled at him while propping up her phone. “You can drive while I sleep.”

Jong Kook smiled to himself, thanking that he didn’t lower down his mask because if he did, Ji Hyo would see the silly grin he had on his face. “Do you want me to give your gift now or later tonight at the party?”

“That depends, do I get two? One now and another one for tonight?” She teased.

“Chamna, you’re spoiled, huh?” Jong Kook laughed with her, “Arraseo, I’ll give you the boring one tonight.”

“I’ll give you one of your gifts later too,” Ji Hyo settled herself on her bed. “Oppa, what time will you get here?”

“Not long, depends on the traffic.”

“Eung, just wake me up when you get here.” she yawned, “The code is still the same.”

As cheesy as it gets, Ji Hyo set her code as 090120 as the reminder of all her Running Man family. Jong Kook knows the code as well as Kwangsoo when they helped her move into her new house. “Arrasseo, I’ll be there soon.”

Her love for sleep never failed her as after a while one closing her eyes, Jong Kook saw her eyes completely relaxed followed by her even breaths. If he already found her beautiful when she’s awake, her being asleep showcases her beauty in another light. Pure and innocent, free from the restraints of the cruel world and was in her own dreamland. “Neomu yeppuda,” he said to himself while looking at her face.

After a while of driving, Jong Kook reached his destination. He opened her door using her code and immediately went to the kitchen countertop to deposit the early lunch that he bought. While he was taking the food out of the containers, he softly called out to the owner of the house who was still sound asleep as seen on his phone screen. “Sooyeon-ah, Sooyeon-ah. Wake up,” he said, “Food’s here.” Jong Kook repeated a few times before she stirred in her sleep and looked at the camera with bleary eyes.

“You’re here?” Ji Hyo sleepily scratched her eye. “I’ll get up.” With that, she grabbed her phone and ended their video call.

Jong Kook waited and sat on one of the stools until she came out of her room. A box wrapped in red was sitting pretty on the countertop next to him, waiting for its rightful owner. He was surprised at Ji Hyo’s appearance when she stepped out of the door, the upper part of her hair was tied up and her chubby cheeks made his hands itch to pinch it.

“You’re an apple now?” Jong Kook teased, patting the stool next to him for her to sit on.

“Apple?”

“Yeah, you know, apple hair.” He gestured towards her hair that was tied up and shrugged. “That’s what it’s called.”

“Oh, it is?” Ji Hyo chuckled, “I didn’t know. I just tied my hair up, it grows faster than I expected.”

“It looks cute,” He said in a dismissive tone to keep off the smile that was forming on his smile and pushed the gift towards her. “Your gift.”

Ji Hyo’s eyes sparkled, ripping the gift wrapper with gusto, revealing the box and its content. She carefully held the white polaroid camera in her han