GOT7 Dorm: Christmas morning, 11:55 a.m. – Present day

The GOT7 dorm had been a little quieter in these past days. So many days off, so little activity, so the normally chaotic group had been spending the past days simply cooling off. There was a bit more of a commotion when Bambam came home from the airport, looking glum that his flight was canceled. But the members handled it much more calmly than they normally would, as a result of making a habit of being quieter.

           Bambam wasn’t in a particularly chipper mood last night either, since he’s been preparing for the trip for most of December. But it’s okay, he’s had to deal with the like before. His only worry is that Jimin will have a hard time getting over it.

           Anyway, today is JYP’s Christmas party, so the whole “nation” will be gathered there. No use in mourning what can’t be helped.

Their leader, Jaebum (or JB), opens the door to their maknae’s bedroom. This leader is grinning big; his smile causes his eyes to squint. Yugyeom takes one look at Jaebum and cringes—it must be a chaotic day today. The old GOT7 is back. The quiet 7 was nice while it lasted.

           “Rise and shine~!” Jaebum yells, his smile evident in his voice. The younger duo simply groans. They had spent the last night just chatting, and ended up sleeping only a few hours.

            JB sees that Yugyeom and Bambam are unresponsive, so he takes a few steps closer, ultimately standing in between their beds. “I said…” he repeats, voice not getting any quieter, “Rise and shine!”

            Another groan of a response. JB’s smile drops. He grabs the inner sides of both of their blankets. “Do you want me to repeat myself?” He threatens.

            No response? Fair.

            Jaebum laughs loudly and rips the blankets off the two younger kids. It’s Winter time, and the maknae line has a room pretty far from the heater. JB receives a fun response as the victims begin yelling from the sudden drop in temperature without their blankets.

            “Hyung!” Bambam whines. “What in the world?!”

            “Ah, this is bull!” Yugyeom lets some profanity out, speaking a bit too informally to his elder.

            But JB doesn’t mind the informal speech. It’s Christmas! “Ah, you kids are too cute. Merry Christmas, by the way! Now get your asses up, we have to get ready for the Christmas party.”

            Finally, both boys respond and they slowly begin to get up. When they properly open their eyes, they see Jaebum is fully dressed in a suit and tie, wearing the slightest bit of foundation to cover up.

            “Ah, it’s a fancy party?” Bambam asks. “Even Jackson is dressed up?”

            “Jackson’s bringing his date, anyway, so of course he’s dressed up.” Jaebum answers as if it were obvious, and claps his hands to hurry them up. “Now get up, we have to get ready!”

15& Dorm: Christmas morning, 11:55 a.m. – Present day

Yerin had already gotten herself ready, since her body clock awoke her at seven in the morning. Jimin, on the other hand, seems to still be sound asleep. Yerin sighs at the sight of her friend so helpless. Jimin had been feeling tired and depressed since she got home. The only thing that will make her feel better is a good Christmas party like today.

            Just as Yerin walks to Jimin’s door to try to wake her up again, the doorbell rings. She groans and walks to the door. Seemingly easy, but not when the floor is littered with Jimin’s luggage and clothes, and Yerin has to walk over it in her heels. When she opens up, she sees that their labelmate Baek Ayeon is the guest, who agreed to carpool to the party with the duo.

            “Ah, Unnie, come in,” Yerin greets and opens the door further for her and Ayeon bows slightly before entering. She’s a bit taller today, wearing black pumps and a simple A-line maroon dress. Yerin, on the other hand, is wearing a figure-hugging black dress that ends at her mid-thigh. Ayeon tilts her head, watching Yerin’s expression.

            “Yerin-ah, you look troubled.” Ayeon had always been good at reading expressions.

            “No, it’s Jimin. She’s been feeling down since her flight got canceled.”

            Ayeon simply nods, having heard the story over the phone last night from Jimin. But she does a double take, and looks Yerin in the eyes again. “Are you sure it’s only Jimin on your mind?”

            “What?”

            “You can’t fool this Unnie. Yerin, what’s wrong?”

There’s nothing that gets past Ayeon, the one person who cares the most about her JYP family. Yerin takes a deep breath and releases slowly. She makes her confession. “I feel kind of conflicted, now that New Year’s is coming up.”

            “Why? What are your plans?”

            “I’m supposed to be hanging out with some Oppas I met at a club a few weeks back. We decided to go to Pierrot Strike.”

            Ayeon an eyebrow in suspicion. “Yerin…”

            “I know it sounds suspicious but they seem like good guys.”

            “Well… if you trust them, I suppose,” Ayeon cringes a little, “But then why do you feel conflicted?”

            Yerin tilts her head from side to side, as if the answer will fall out of her ears. “I just… get this weird feeling that I’m leaving someone behind.”

            “That Olltii guy left you behind, didn’t he? Rap Monster-nim also canceled on you. How are you at fault?”

            “Ah, I don’t know! It’s just a weird feeling of guilt in the back of my head.” Yerin shakes her head and throws her hands up in defeat. “Whatever. Thank you for listening, Unnie.”

            Ayeon puts her hand on Yerin’s arm and smiles. “Anytime.”

            “Oh, Unnie, one more thing…”

            “Hm?”

            “Help me wake up Jimin.”

Hanwoori Food Restaurant: Christmas, 1:30 p.m. – Present day

Having rich company power, JYP Entertainment managed to reserve out the whole restaurant hall for Christmas. Not an easy task, considering that Hanwoori is a well-received restaurant that families would love to dine in on Christmas. That’s the power their company has, and no JYP Nation member takes that for granted. They can only assume SM and YG have similar plans for their company Christmas party.

            Hanwoori is a restaurant that mixed Korean, Japanese and Chinese cuisine, perfect for a multi-national company like JYP. Nobody in the company really bothered to ask whether they were having lunch or brunch. They seem to be just excited because the whole meal is on Park Jinyoung, so none of the artists have to pay a dime.

           The restaurant tables have been rearranged. There are no chairs, but many tall round tables for standing at. On the side, there is a buffet with small appetizers and meals. Those who have already arrived are some members of 2PM, 2AM (even Seulong, who left the company), Wonder Girls, Miss A, the cast of SIXTEEN, and the soloists. Of course Park Jinyoung stands proudly in the middle.

An hour or so passes, and most of the members of the JYP nation have arrived. Yerin is chatting with Mark, Taecyeon and JB. Nichkhun is helping Natty out with finding people to talk to. Lim and Ayeon are hanging out. Jimin walks around with a small plate in her hand, willing to talk to everyone. It’s the least she can do to bring her energy back up. She stops by Yugyeom and Bambam, who are together as always.

           “What’s up?” She greets, and side-hugs the boys. Bambam’s eyes light up when he sees her, and he hits Yugyeom to remember what to say.

            “We were actually talking about you and Yerin,” Yugyeom remembers.

            “Oh really? Talk , get hit, remember that,” Jimin teases.

            “No, no, we weren’t gossiping,” Bambam laughs, “We’re just wondering if you guys want to drink with us on New Year’s.”

            Jimin pauses and looks around. “Wait… didn’t we…” She begins clapping and laughing upon getting her thoughts together. “Yes! We made a promise like that on the group chat—we should really bring that chat back, by the way—but yeah, I remember! Sure, I’ll come!”

            Yugyeom gets a bit stiff. It seems like everyone remembers when they’re told. He wonders if Yerin remembers, or if it’s completely fallen out of her head. But he won’t say anything, he’s just glad things are going his way.

            “But is it safe? For us to drink…” Jimin asks, being a rookie to the content.

            “Safe or not, I’ve been thinking,” Bambam exaggerates his gestures to show he’s got an idea. “I don’t want it to end up in only one of us drinking, and the others chickening out. Thus, I’ve come up with a mission for the four of us. Run this one by Yerin as well.”

            “Ah, Yerin’s not going to be with us…” Jimin begins, but is cut off.

            “Sh! Run it by her!” Bambam looks like a clown, acting dramatic like this. But the others listen to him. “Tonight is a JYP party. You know how crazy JYP parties get. Drama here and there, you’re bound to be want to forget something. So, I’ve prepared a drinking game.”

           “Hul? When did you prepare this?” Yugyeom laughs.

           Bambam goes to his pocket and picks out four loose small pieces of paper, and four little pencils. He hands one paper and pencil to Yugyeom, two to Jimin (one for Yerin), and keeps one to himself.

            “Here’s the game. Every time you come across something that annoys you or something you want to forget, you draw a line. The amount of lines you have in the end is the amount of shots you’ll take on New Year’s. To forget your worries.”

            Yugyeom and Jimin both look at each other, unsure if it’s a good idea. But Jimin finally shrugs an writes down a line on her paper. “This game annoys me. There’s one line. I’ll play.”

            Yugyeom purses his lips in thought. If this is what it takes for his friends to drink with him and keep their promise, then so be it. He laughs and writes a line down as well. “Fine, me too. This game is annoying.”

            “Sweet! Run it by Yerin, I’m sure this is more fun than those weirdoes she promised to hang out with.”

Jimin does run it by Yerin, who looks down at the paper, confused. Yerin then looks up, suspicious of the weird gift.

            “Why am I being included in this?” Yerin laughs at the idea of the game. “I said you guys can come chill at Pierrot with us, not that I’d play a suspicious game with you.”

            Jimin groans and places the paper and pencil in her hand anyway. “I’m not forcing you to take shots. But just draw the lines, and maybe you’ll change your mind. Think about it.”

            With that, Jimin runs off, Yerin watching her roommate leave. JB and Mark, who she was talking to before, eye Yerin dangerously. Jaebum talks under his breath, but loud enough for Yerin to hear. “I’d rather you hang out with them than those weird boys from the club…”

            Yerin’s mouth opens in surprise and she turns to the boys. “Who told you about that?”

            They get quieter, and though they say nothing, Yerin can see Mark’s eyes wander to Ayeon. Yerin tries to keep a straight face, but ends up scrunching her nose up in annoyance. “Ayeon Unnie?”

            “Well…” Jaebum avoids eye contact.

            “Ah, why? It’s not as suspicious as it sounds, I promise.” Yerin tries to tell the two, but they don’t seem convinced. She, being a naturally quiet girl, doesn’t know how to express her annoyance. JB and Mark see this, and Mark quietly pulls the paper and pencil Jimin gave her from her pocket.

            “How many lines should I write down?” He asks.

            Yerin grinds her teeth behind her straight-faced lips. “Three. One for this annoying game, one for Ayeon Unnie’s big mouth, and one for your judgement.”

The next to write down her lines for the game is Jimin. She searches for a slice of cake at the buffet, and finally spots the one she would like. It’s the last of the strawberry cakes. Just as she is about to take it, a large hand comes from behind and picks the cake right out of her reach. Jimin turns around angrily, only to see Youngjae of GOT7, grinning at her.

            “Yah, Oppa!” She scolds, and reaches to get it back. Youngjae steps back and extends his arm upwards, the cake out of her reach.

            “You’re getting meaner these days.” She pouts and looks up at him with her big, doe eyes. Youngjae doesn’t budge.

            “Don’t try aegyo on me, Jimin-ah, that doesn’t work,” he cackles, then adds, “And I’ve always been mean. I’m just coming out of my shell.”

            Jimin rolls her eyes; no help talking to this boy. Considering this has been an annoying event, she reaches in her pocket to draw another line on her paper. However, just as she’s about to pull it out her skirt pocket, she hears the sound of boys yelling. She turns and sees Jackson, who had taken the slice of cake from Youngjae.

            “Hyung!” Youngjae laughs.

            “This belongs to none other than our Jamie,” Jackson says, acting like a white knight. He parades over to Jimin, leaving behind the defeated Youngjae, and gives the plate of cake to her. Jimin doesn’t know if she should take it.

            It had been tiring avoiding Jackson because of her petty unrequited crush (or Hopeless Love). Jimin smiles to herself. Why can’t she just like Jackson as a friend? It’s selfish to ask for more. She smiles at Jackson now, and gladly takes the cake from him.

            “Thank you,” she says quietly, feeling a bit shy around him.

            Jackson ruffles Jimin’s hair. “Youngjae is an immature kid, don’t mind him.”

           “You’re immature, too…”

           “What did you say?!” Jackson overreacts for dramatic effect. “There’s the snarky Jimin I know and love—and the one I haven’t seen in a while. Any longer, and I would have thought you were avoiding me.”

           Jimin avoids eye contact awkwardly, hearing that. “I wouldn’t avoid you…”

           He laughs loudly. “Of course not!”

           Jackson’s eyes brighten up. “Oh, by the way, Jimin, since it’s been a while since we’ve properly spoken… I think someone else wants to properly introduce herself to you.”

           Who? Jimin furrows her eyebrows. Jackson grabs her arm and pulls her to one of the standing tables, where a woman’s back is turned to them. This woman, dressed in white silk, is tapped on the shoulder by Jackson. She turns around and smiles her signature big smile.

           “Oh, Park Jimin-ssi!” Heo Youngji of KARA looks brighter upon seeing her, and even speaks formally to a minor. “I’ve wanted to properly greet you for a long time, but it seems that you’re always busy.”

           That’s because I avoid you, Jimin thinks, not knowing how to react. Of course Jackson brought her as a date! She knows she can’t be rude to Youngji, because she’s done nothing wrong. But having a nice conversation with your crush’s girlfriend is not a preferred pastime.

           Just it up and go with the flow, Jimin thinks again and plasters a big fake smile on her face. She also discreetly draws a new line on her paper. That’s another shot.

Bambam wanders around, searching for a new crowd. He spots Wonder Girls’ Lim and his group-mate Jinyoung (known as Junior) talking with members of the SIXTEEN show, Jihyo and Mina. It’s so like Junior to chat up newcomers with his charm, and for Lim to cheer on JYP despite her lack of work.

            “What’s up?” Bambam asks, strolling over to the group. There had been a surprising lack of drama within the first hour of the party, and Bambam celebrates in his mind that he doesn’t have to get -wasted.

            “I was with Mark a while ago…” Junior says, “and he was telling me about that weird drinking game.”

            “Drinking game?” Lim asks.

            Bambam laughs to himself that the rumor spread so quickly. “Yeah, we’re going to get together and celebrate adulthood with a drinking game.”

            Junior and Lim nod, but Jihyo and Mina of SIXTEEN pause and step back. Jihyo makes a face. “Well… Mina and I are turning twenty this year, as well… why aren’t we included?”

            “Yeah, just because we’re newbies doesn’t mean we haven’t been friends as trainees…” Mina adds. Tension rises in the group and Bambam freezes. He totally forgot that those two are also 1997-born. He slowly begins walking backwards; by his logic, this way, he's also making his way out of the conversation. Not a slick way of doing it, but he makes a mental note to draw one more line on his paper.

After a few more hours of eating and chatting, J. Y. Park walks to the middle of the room. He grabs a microphone and announces to everybody that it is time to give each other Christmas presents and celebrate the holiday cheer. This is a special time, and nobody is left without a present. Even the staff gets gifts. Youngji even gives a gift to Jimin, only conflicting her feelings more.

            Yugyeom catches Yerin’s eye. He hasn’t spoken to her face-to-face since the last day of school, and he would be lying if he said he doesn’t miss her. So before she can run off again, he grabs her arm and places a little box in her hand.

            “Oh!” Yerin jumps in surprise. “This is?”

            “For you. Merry Christmas.”

           Yerin eyes him, and slowly opens the box. Inside is a thin silver ring with a little “예”, or “Ye”, for Ye-rin, engraved on the rim. It’s adorable. Yugyeom expects a ‘thank you’, but Yerin laughs instead, putting it on.

            “What are we, a couple?” Yerin laughs even harder as she admires the ring. She has no idea how much those words make his heart flutter.

            “I… I’m sorry?” Yugyeom clears his throat, unsure how to respond. Yerin smiles and looks him in the eyes. She has no idea how much her gaze does to him. Yerin passes him a small box, and before he can open it, she tells him what it is.

            “Weird miracles, huh? I got you the same thing,” she giggles and he opens the box. Indeed, it’s the same ring, however engraved with a “유”, or “Yu”, for Yu-Gyeom. It does look like a couple item, and Yugyeom fights a creeping blush.

            Yerin pats him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Gyeom.”

            “Th… thank you, too, Yerin.”

She soon walks off to exchange presents with Taecyeon and Jimin. Yugyeom should do the same with his Hyungs, however he lingers, admiring the ring he had gotten. But when he watches Yerin, he sees Taecyeon gives Yerin a toy bear. She laughs at the coincidence and reveals that she had also bought Taecyeon the exact same bear. The same coincidence as Yugyeom's.

            So… Yugyeom is just another friend. Well, he knew this himself. It would be dumb to think otherwise.

Yugyeom draws another line on his paper. Looks like everyone has reasons to take shots on New Year’s.

A/N: I'm updating pretty regularly now that I'm on break, haha. Yes, I promise the next chapter is the fated New Year's night. Also, sorry if you're not a SIXTEEN fan and the Jihyo/Mina part confused you. I just needed to include how the new 97-liners aren't included in their promise, since I forgot there are some new 97-ers in JYP. Stay tuned for the next chapter!