Hyewon's POV:

We are currently on the second month of the year 2022. Fifth of the month and it is Minju's day today. I can't cook so I enlisted Eunbi Unnie, Chaeyeon and my Eomma's help so I can prepare dinner for Minju. Everyone was here at the Hotel Suite I rented, Minju will be coming here after visiting all her birthday cafés and ads all over Seoul like I did the previous year. We always took time out of our special day to go out with some friends either from school or from the industry and visit the ads as well as the cafés that was put up for us. Even back in IZ*ONE days we were this way. We always visited the ads and the cafés. Now though, we've been extra careful because there was still COVID-19. It has been two years into this pandemic. I wish we can go out like the old times and not have to be extra fussy about everyone's safety. Minju contracted COVID a month ago, so she had to separate herself from me for about seven days. She took the other room in the house and it was mostly Chaeyeon and Eunbi Unnie who brought us food on rotation, I kind of feel guilty about not being able to cook her something.

I am currently being taught by Eomma how to cook Yukgaejang. Which is Minju's favorite dish. It is Spicy Beef Stew made the Korean way. It was about time I learned how to make things myself. Minju loves to cook and bake and last month was hard because I had to call Chaeyeon and Eunbi Unnie to bring us food. I always sat behind her door as we ate dinner together. It was tough, I always sang her a song after dinner. She would cry at the other end of the door and I would then play her a song on the guitar and sing to her. She was always a cry baby even back in IZ*ONE, we even have a video of her crying and being upset during practice. She easily gets upset and blames herself a lot. It is only in recent years did she gain confidence and learned not to cry over small things but catching COVID really scared her and she would often be crying out of boredom and out of her mind. She was supposed to self isolate and in that time, she had to stop her schedules until she is fully recuperated.

I similarly had a COVID scare back in November after Eunbi Unnie caught it. She had a deadlier strain of COVID, similar to what Minju caught. The past few weeks I've learned how to make Miyeok Guk, Yukgaejang and Galbi. Beef Galbi is one of the things Minju loved and steaks which I learned how to make too, she loved her steaks Medium Rare which I managed to learn from Eunbi Unnie the proper technique to cook a steak. I was doing all the cooking today and my two members and Eomma is just here to guide me and help me. We are about ready to reveal our secret in a few months time. We also sent a gag order to the sasaeng fan who broke in to our place a few months back. We had to take care of that in secret and my company even released statements about suing anyone who defames my name.

We plan to come out by the end of this year. We have it all set and figured out, we'll go and announce to the public a month after her drama airs. Now, we were just teasing our MongMinators. It was a cute name she came up with because our fans collectively calls us MongMin plus Gladiators because those fans are like Gladiators fighting for us in the comments. We were underrated IZ*ONE Members and our dance skills as well as singing skills weren't often highlighted during IZ*ONE Promotions, often I get few lines or if there were highlights it was quick and often I overlap with either Minju or Sakura Unnie. 8D Creative did a great job in suing some of the malicious comments I received while filming a webtoon drama that I got and worked hard for, people just loves to compare me and my height to the character, everyone says I don't fit the character because I'm short or whatever else they can nit pick about me and 8D have had enough and sued some of those antis to show them how serious it is to say comments about me that will tarnish my name.

I worked hard on all the projects I got, there was no special treatment. No pampering most of all. It was Hyemdans who pampered me and gave me food trucks while filming. The drama's staff were all taken care of by Hyemdans. It was my unofficial fandom name. Minju and Eunbi Unnie collectively sent a food truck on the first day of filming for my dramas, music video shoot and other activities I took part in last year. My girlfriend is really the sweetest aside from baking for my security and staff, she never fails to surprise me. Yujin and Wonyoung are busy these days including Eunbi Unnie who was preparing for her comeback Glitch, which was supposed to drop April or May this year. Chaeyeon was the same, she's ironing out her Solo Debut with WM, she will be last to debut from IZ*ONE, Sakura Unnie came back and have spent the Christmas Holiday with Minju and I. She is set to re-debut this May together with Chaewon for LE SSERAFIM, the final name of their group. Chaewon is the leader and we are happy for both of them.

Chaeyeon was going to make a big splash this 2022 and we are more than excited for her. She liked to come in clutch and make a splash out of everything she does. Produce was an example, we held our breaths and we were on the edge of our seats, because in our mind, there's no way  she didn't make it, the agony we all felt, like seriously, I would give my spot to Chaeyeon, because she was born to be an idol. She deserved that spot more than I do. As the last few winners were announced, Sakura Unnie cried and wished that she would debut with Chaeyeon and it seemed like it was Mnet's plan to 'grant' the second placer's wish, like a fairytale's fairy godmother, Lee Chaeyeon was called as the last placer when in fact her ranking through out the show she would've ended the show as First Placer.

Mnet screwed her royally and made her out to be like Cinderella, who suffered so much before getting her Happy-Ever-After. She led us when Eunbi Unnie didn't know what to do, especially on the last release of IZ*ONE's music, when the companies didn't have time for us because we were about to end our time as IZ*ONE. Lee Chaeyeon took care of us, the entire two dorms, she would often prepare our well balanced meals, care for us when we all felt hopeless. She deserves nothing but love from Feathers all over the world. I'm quite protective of each members especially Lee Chaeyeon who I call Jagiya. My Jagiya was the most elaborate when it came to choreography, she choreographed most of IZ*ONE's choreography. During MAMA '18 when we started out, I stood behind her during dance breaks, so I had to work double time to appear in sync with her dancing. Whatever doubt I had with myself, I had to let go of that and focus on my Jagiya, so I can come out a better dancer and make our team's choreography more cohesive. I succeeded that night, the response from WIZ*ONEs were all good for me, they complimented me so much.

Lee Chaeyeon was a great dancer, she deserves to shine on stage whether alone or within a group. WM was quiet, a lot has been said to WM regarding my Jagiya's debut. But they kept mum about it. The company was sold even before we halted our activities. So that put Chaeyeon on a limbo for about a year. But she still improved her craft. She would often go live on Instagram and do a random play dance. She danced to IVE's Eleven, which was a group composed of Yujin and Wonyoung and others. She dances to every members' songs. Including Eunbi Unnie's song and Yuri's. She is supportive of every IZ*ONE members' activities. She was vocal with her support, even for my song that I released. She posted a screenshot of her listening to my winter album. All the songs there were a nod to IZ*ONE and Minju. Soon, I got done cooking dinner, everything I worked hard on looked delicious and tasted delicious. All thanks to these three who guided me, more like a hawk who flew over me.

I received a message from Minju saying that she's about to come to the hotel with her family. She was just picking them up. I typed in my reply and sent her the message. We scrambled to our feet to decorate the whole place which was halfway done. While miyeok guk was simmering on the stove. I helped put up some of the decors and right after, I freshened myself up with a bath and a change of clothes. It felt like I was dancing as I sweated from all the cooking I had done. Was this how it felt like everytime Minju cooks? I should probably apologize to her, because cooking is a love affair with the stove. She needed to be careful when she cooks in order for her not to burn herself and damage her skin. I realized it just now that it was awfully hard, but she does all this on the daily, she wakes up really early before I do so she can personally prepare my breakfast and lunch before she goes to work. She would wake me up after preparing breakfast or there are times when I wake up to the smell of food.

I sat in the vanity table and wrote on the card all my thoughts about her and my gratefulness for what she does for me. I've never fully realized just how hard she works in the Kitchen. It made me all the more in awe of her and her dishes, even though the dishes looked unappetizing, it made me grow more fond of her and her unappetizing dishes. I thanked her for doing all this and told her how grateful I am of her and all the sacrifices she does to cook for me. It was long overdue appreciation for everything that she does for me. Albeit we can always just buy take outs, she insists that she can cook for us. You can count in my left hand all the times we had to order take outs one of them in that instance the sasaeng fan broke in. I hired a private investigator to follow that woman when Minju is out and about with her schedule. She was a crazy fan of Minju during AYAYAYA Era and that Era she began being delusional that Minju is her girlfriend.

I knew her back story, I found out about her and despite Minju hating security, I would only allow her to go if she had security with her, so much to her chagrin she agreed to have additional security tailing her. What she didn't know was the Private Investigator I hired to watch her sasaeng fan. It has become a head ache for me that I pretended she doesn't exist. It was better if I did this just so we can have a semblance of normalcy. I had to reconsider when our timing will be, coming out, because it would be absolute pandemonium for us both if ever we came out as lovers. She wasn't ready yet, while I don't mind if I came out or not, I love her and nothing can change my mind about her. After I wrote her a long letter, I placed the long envelope on top of her gift and made my way out of the room and joined, Eomma, Chaeyeon and Eunbi Unnie. We sat at the living room and waited for her arrival. I rented a hotel suite nearest Miseong-dong, equipped with a Kitchen as I planned before hand to cook for her and her family.

I checked on the simmering miyeok guk and the meat was almost tender. Eomma told me to simmer until soft, so I lingered