“Hey, if you put the whole strawberry upright, it’ll tear the cake sheet.”
“Just cut it in half and lay it down.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”
“Sigh, let’s just change it. That sounds better. You whip the cream. I’ll cut the strawberries.”
Ryu Jae-hee took the knife from my hand and moved the already chopped strawberries to the side.
Receiving the spare bowl of whipped cream, Ryu Jae-hee started whisking with a serious expression.
Watching him whisk three times, stop, then lift the whisk as if waiting for some peaks to form, I started regretting switching roles.
I left only five strawberries for decoration on top and cut the rest in half.
Lifting the whisk coated in cream, Ryu Jae-hee turned to me and suggested, “In baking scenes, people often end up playing around and smearing stuff on each other’s faces. Want to try that too?”
“Isn’t that too unsanitary? Using the whisk on the cake after it’s been on someone’s face?”
At my disapproval, Ryu Jae-hee quietly put down the whisk and began spreading the adequately whipped cream onto the cake sheet.
After cutting all the strawberries, I stared down at the messy pile of crushed strawberries on the cutting board and muttered to myself, “If I mix this into the whipped cream, won’t it turn into strawberry cream?”
“Oh, a true strawberry whipped cream cake.”
“It’d be a waste to throw it out, so let’s add it.”
“If it turns out badly or tastes awful, it’s all your fault… Just kidding. It would also be my fault for not stopping you.”
“Ah, then let’s not add it.”
“No backtracking!”
Before I could stop him, Ryu Jae-hee quickly dumped the crushed strawberries into the bowl of whipped cream and began stirring. I shook my head at the sight.
If the cake turns out badly, it’s not my fault. It’s Ryu Jae-hee’s fault for insisting on adding the crushed strawberries.
I only thought that. Just thought it.
Only after painstakingly writing “Merry Christmas” on top of the cake with a chocolate-filled piping bag did we finish.
The salad and canapés had long been completed, and the roasted turkey had been done ages ago.
Placing the poorly made cake on the table where the tablecloth was slightly askew, Seo Ye-hyun looked at it with a dubious expression and commented, “This cake… is it supposed to look like that?”
“Hyung, you weren’t going to eat it anyway since it’s just whipped cream and fat.”
We were all smiles for the camera, so I added my two cents. Kim Do-bin chimed in with his own remark.
“Why does this cake look like something from a nightmare? Did we really have to add the half-crushed strawberries?”
After confirming the camera had captured the full shot of the table, I picked up a cake knife.
I roughly cut the cake into five pieces, placed them on small plates, and handed one to Kim Do-bin, who was sitting next to me.
“Here, Do-bin. Let’s eat first. Open wide.”
“Why, why are you doing this…?”
Kim Do-bin trembled, but when I furrowed my brow to signal that he should hurry and eat it for the camera, he quietly opened his mouth.
As he chewed the cake, looking like I had just given him poison, his eyes gradually widened in surprise.
Seo Ye-hyun, who had begrudgingly taken a bite, spoke up, clearly reluctant to admit it, “What is this? It’s surprisingly good.”
“That’s because it’s store-bought. This isn’t ‘Made by Yoon Eden & Ryu Jae-hee,’ it’s ‘Made by the Supermarket.'”
“Exactly. We only assembled and spread the cream. We just messed up the appearance a bit by adding the crushed strawberries.”
“Yeah, why did you do that, youngest?”
“Who was the one who suggested it first, hyung?”
“And who was the one who actually added the crushed strawberries to the cream?”
After finishing the meal with a lively atmosphere, five animal pajamas were laid out in front of us.
With a confident grin, Ryu Jae-hee looked over the animal pajamas and said, “These should be worn according to one’s image. Hmm, there’s no hamster.”
“Hey, hey, there’s a flying squirrel instead.”
“Then I’ll take the flying squirrel! Hyung, you can wear the dog one.”
Ryu Jae-hee handed the dog pajamas to Kim Do-bin. I stared intently at the black cat pajamas among the three remaining ones.
I suddenly remembered that comment asking if I’d never seen a kitten before.
Even after hearing that, do I really have to wear the cat pajamas?
As I blankly stared at the three remaining animal pajamas with tired eyes, the system promptly intervened.
[Dead fish eyes detected.]
[Initial Intention -1]
“Eden-hyung, you get the cat.”
With deadened eyes, I reluctantly accepted the cat pajamas Ryu Jae-hee handed over.
The other pajamas weren’t much better, so this was probably the best option.
“Hajun, what are you going to wear?”
“You can pick first, hyung. I’ll take what’s left.”
Gyeon Ha-jun handed the choice over to Seo Ye-hyun.
“Hmm… rabbit or Bambi…”
“Come on, just pick one and put it on already.”
At my indifferent suggestion, Seo Ye-hyun eventually picked up the Bambi pajamas at his feet. As a result, Gyeon Ha-jun was automatically assigned the rabbit ones.
We gathered in front of the large Christmas tree, now dressed in animal pajamas that, despite being worn over our shirts and pants, only made the already warm studio feel even more stifling.
“Oh, come to think of it, this is my first time decorating a Christmas tree,” Seo Ye-hyun said in awe.
Ryu Jae-hee, who was hanging ornaments on the tree, widened his eyes and turned to Seo Ye-hyun, asking, “Really? You never did it as a kid?”
“We didn’t celebrate Christmas at home.”
“Why? Is your family Buddhist?”
“No, we’re non-religious.”
Seo Ye-hyun chuckled as he hung a bell ornament on the tree, recounting how he learned at the age of five, thanks to his parents’ early education, that Santa Claus doesn’t exist.
So that’s why he turned into a person who prefers cash envelopes as gifts.
I thought about this while haphazardly hanging an old ornament on a branch, occasionally turning to the camera to wave and smile.
And then, it was time for the much-anticipated gift exchange.
We all lay down in a row on the soft blankets spread across the studio floor.
“Now that I’m lying down, I’m feeling sleepy,” I said.
“Eden-hyung, you’re not really going to fall asleep, right?”
“Mmm…,” I barely managed to respond, trying to hold on to my drowsy consciousness.
Each of us had to take the gift box we prepared, draw lots to determine who we would give it to, place it by their head, and then return to the blanket and lie down again.
This was the easiest part of the shoot so far.
I went first.
On tiptoe, I quietly picked up the gift box I had prepared and placed it next to Seo Ye-hyun’s head before returning to my spot and lying down.
As I struggled to stay awake, constantly reminding myself that we were still filming, I felt someone’s presence near my head.
Judging by the restless footsteps, it was either Ryu Jae-hee or Kim Do-bin.
Though it wouldn’t be included in the music video, we held a little unwrapping ceremony for the gifts that would appear in the reality show.
Seo Ye-hyun opened his gift box first.
He picked up the single Christmas card on top of the gift and read aloud, “TO. Seo Ye-hyun FROM. Yoon Eden. Merry Christmas. Whoa, it was you?”
As he turned to me with surprised eyes, I nodded and spoke to the camera, “I was going to give Ye-hyun hyung cash since it’s his preferred gift, but I thought a heartfelt present would be better, so I carefully chose this.”
If mulling over it for 10 minutes counts as careful consideration, then I guess it was.
Under pressure from the younger members, Seo Ye-hyun took the gift out of the box.
It was a cashmere scarf and a men’s skincare set.
“Oh, that’s unexpected.”
Was that a genuine comment, or was he trying to tease me?
“How did you manage to give me exactly what I needed?”
Maybe he hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but Seo Ye-hyun added the words almost to himself.
Did he really think I’d put trash in there or something?
“This doesn’t look like something you can buy for under 50,000 won. How much did you spend on this, hyung?”
“No comment. It’s not polite to mention the price when giving a gift,” I said, lightly reprimanding Ryu Jae-hee as I ruffled the hair covered by his animal pajama hood.
Next, it was Ryu Jae-hee’s turn to open his gift box.
“The sender is… Ha-jun hyung.”
Gyeon Ha-jun’s gift for Ryu Jae-hee was a pair of wired earphones and a music box.
The earphones seemed to be from a brand known for its good sound quality. If I recall correctly, they should be quite pricey.
One of the things that reminded me I had gone back in time was these wired earphones. Having grown accustomed to wireless earphones in the future, I found the cords on these wired ones a bit awkward.
The other gift, a music box, was perfect for Ryu Jae-hee, who had a hobby of collecting them.
There was a whole episode of Ryu Jae-hee giving Gyeon Ha-jun a heartfelt hug out of gratitude, but let’s skip that.
Next, Kim Do-bin grabbed the lid of his gift box and dramatically declared, “Will there be a cash envelope in here, just as I wished?”
He even provided his own background music as he opened the box and lifted out what could be either a Christmas card or a business card and read the words.
“Merry Christmas, from Ye-hyun hyung.”
Carefully setting down the Christmas card, Kim Do-bin pulled out a branded card wallet from the gift box.
“Open the wallet,” Seo Ye-hyun said.
When Kim Do-bin cautiously opened it, he was so thrilled to see two 50,000-won bills tucked inside that he covered his mouth in shock.
He seemed more excited about the cash than the wallet itself.
“Oh, that’s clever.”
“Right? The proper way to gift a wallet is to put money in it.”
With compliments coming from both sides, Seo Ye-hyun subtly lifted his shoulders, trying to hide his pride.
Watching Kim Do-bin bow deeply to Seo Ye-hyun in gratitude, almost as if mistaking it for receiving New Year’s money instead of a Christmas gift, I thought to myself.
Bowing on Christmas. What a strange mix of East and West.
Next was Gyeon Ha-jun, who opened his gift box to reveal the sender and the gift.
“It’s from Do-bin. Do-bin, can I read the letter? It’s really long.”
“Uh, no, hyung. I’d appreciate it if you read that on your own.”
Kim Do-bin frantically waved his hands. The gifts were a tumbler and a mood lamp.
These were things you could comfortably buy within the 50,000-won budget.
“Thanks, I actually needed a new tumbler.”
Knowing that Gyeon Ha-jun wasn’t one to appreciate a mood lamp, especially since he gets annoyed even when someone just looks at their phone screen at night, I noticed how he only thanked him for the tumbler and didn’t mention the mood lamp at all. He really had clear preferences.
So, the person who gave me a gift must be Ryu Jae-hee.
As I recalled the increasingly nervous expression on Ryu Jae-hee’s face as the gifts from the older members were revealed, my already low expectations hit rock bottom.
What kind of nice gift could a minor like him afford? Probably something within the 50,000-won budget, just like Kim Do-bin.
“Wow, everyone managed to avoid picking their own gift, huh.”
“I swear by my precious music box collection, there was no rigging involved, dear viewers.”
“Why are you swearing on my music box collection?”
Ignoring the younger members who had started bickering, I opened my gift box.
“Now, let me reveal the last gift I received.”
***
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