Jihyo, Gary and the twins were at her parents’ house for the countdown to 2016. Jihyo curled up on the sofa against Gary, and he put his arms around her. Jihyo’s parents sat on another sofa, and Sungkyung and her boyfriend sat on the extra chairs they took out. They were watching the live broadcast of the New Year’s Party while snacking on ice-cream. The kids were playing with Sungmin on the floor. Ji-ohn was getting tickled by him and Jiyoung was pestering for a piggy back. Ji-ohn managed to run to her parents and snuggled up between them, but Sungmin caught her and brought her back.  

“Eomma, eomma,” she called, giggling.

“Wae? Don’t you want to stay with me?” Sungmin pouted. She giggled and shook her head.

“You only come to me when you wanna play,” he pretended to whine, but let Ji-ohn go to her parents. Sungmin gave Jiyoung a piggy back, but he also wanted to sit with Gary and Jihyo now.

“Wa, you two little brats,” he laughed, and went to sit with his parents.

Jihyo’s father laughed. “If you like to play with them so much, get married and have children of your own,” he teased. Sungmin rolled his eyes, but everyone else chuckled.

“Appa, he doesn’t even have a girlfriend,” Sungkyung teased.

“Yah!!”

“Let your new year resolution be: find a girlfriend,” she laughed.

“I’ll find one when you get married,” he countered. She stuck out his tongue and he did too. The elders chuckled.

“I can introduce some of my dongsaengs to you,” Gary offered, chuckling.

“Oppa! None of your dongsaengs are decent,” Jihyo hit him, protesting.

“Yah! What you mean,” he laughed, poking her cheeks.

“They’re so… wild,” she said, and they both laughed.

The Ji-ohn climbed up onto Gary and laid against his chest. Gary brushed her hair and asked, “you tired?”

She yawned and nodded. He looked at Jiyoung and asked him too. He nodded as well. Jihyo put down her legs so Jiyoung could sit on her legs. She rubbed his back.

“Do you want to go into the room?” she asked him.

“Come in with me,” he said tiredly. Jihyo chuckled, “the countdown is about to start. Shall we stay for a little more?”

He nodded, but closed his eyes nonetheless. Jihyo smiled. A year ago, a tired child would be a disaster. They would whine and cry until they are asleep, but now, they stay peacefully quiet.

Soon, the countdown started. Gary woke Ji-ohn and Jiyoung up.

“10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…”

The clock struck 12. Fireworks exploded in the sky.

“Happy new year!!” they cheered. Everyone in the family stood up to hug each other.

Gary kissed Jihyo on her cheeks as he whispered ‘happy new year, yeobo’ and she kissed him back.

2015 had been a long year- they started filming with the casts again, Jihyo filmed a drama, Gary released an album. There had been ups and downs as well. But they got through it together, as a family, and they will go through many more together.

They went home after the countdown. All four of them slept in late. Gary woke up first, and was surprised to see that Jihyo wasn’t awake yet. He kissed her forehead.

“Happy New Year,” he greeted her again.

With her eyes still closed, she muttered, “Happy New Year, oppa”

He pulled her close and brushed her hair away. “You okay?” he asked. Usually, even if they slept in late, Jihyo would still wake up the earliest.

She shook her head. “Cramps,” she mumbled. “Must be the ice cream last night.”

“Ya… then why did you still eat it?” he said, his voice full of concern. Sometimes Jihyo had cramps, but it wasn’t often. “I’ll make you a hot drink,” he said, getting up.

She nodded. He washed up and made her a cup of hot chocolate. He also filled the hot pack with warm water. He kissed her tummy and tucked her into bed. She chuckled. “Rest well,” he said. “I’ll prepare breakfast for the kid now.” She nodded and went back to sleep.

The kids woke up, and like Gary, was surprised to not see Jihyo. Gary explained to them during breakfast that Jihyo wasn’t feeling well, and asked them to play quietly without disturbing her. They agreed.

Since it was already the new year, the children sat on normal chairs, like how Gary and Jihyo agreed. After breakfast, Gary washed the dishes. He didn’t have to carry the children off the chairs because they could get down from it easily, unlike from the high chair. They went to the hall by themselves, before deciding to go into Jihyo’s room.

“Eomma’s sleeping,” Gary called out. “Don’t disturb her.”

“We promise to be reallyyyy quiet,” Ji-ohn said.

“Ok, then. Just for a while.”

The two children climbed up Jihyo’s bed and snugged against her. She woke up and smiled to see them.

“Good morning eomma,” they said together and kissed her, one after another.

“Appa says you are not feeling well,” Ji-ohn said worriedly.

“Eo… I’ll be fine after some rest. Go out and play, okay?”

“I want to stay with you,” Jiyoung said, lying down beside her and holding her arm. Jihyo smiled. Gary came in to usher the kids out, but Jiyoung said, “Eomma stays with me when I am sick, so I want to stay with eomma too.” It was only after much coaxing before they were willing to come out.

“Since it’s the new year, should we make some new year resolutions?” Gary asked.

“What is new year resolution?” Ji-ohn asked.

“Uh… they are things that you plan to do for this year.”

The children nodded, so Gary took out some paper and drew 2 columns, labelling it, Jiyoung and Ji-ohn, Appa and Eomma.

“Okay, what do you want to do this year?” he asked them.

“Play!” Ji-ohn said. Gary laughed, but wrote it down.

“Shall we learn how to ride a bike?” he asked. They nodded, so he wrote it down as well.

“And you need to learn to read and write too! You will be 4 years old this year!” he said. The children pouted, but he wrote it anyway.

“Then what should appa and eomma do?” he said.

“Stay with us more,” Ji-ohn said. Gary felt a little guilty. He wrote it down.

“Should we go for an overseas trip?” he asked. The kids nodded excitedly. So he wrote it down.

Then beneath both columns, he wrote- stay healthy, be happy- which was the most important thing. It’s a long year ahead, and they sure have many plans. But above everything, they have to be happy and stay healthy. That’s the most important thing for him.

Short chapter, but yay happy new year!