"Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you..." I woke up to a guy singing in my room. I rubbed my eyes and it turned out to be Seungcheol, the senior that became my boyfriend for the past year and a half. He brought a cake on his right hand and a bouquet of flowers on his left. I was kind of embarrassed because I literally just woke up. However, at the time, I was more flattered because he was the first person I saw when I opened my eyes on my first day being 17. It was Friday which was a school day, by the way, so he managed to wake up earlier to surprise me while picking me up.

 

I blew out the candles and he cheered. "Happy birthday, Jagiyaaa," he said while kissing my forehead then pulling me into a hug and swaying me. I smiled. "Thank you," I said while hugging him. "How did you get in?" I asked him, remembering I always lock my apartment door.

 

"You know where you always keep your spare keys," he answered, still hugging me. He meant my parents' house. After a while, I let go of his hug to make my breakfast. ”Now, if you excuse me, I have to go make breakfast," I said while leaving him to the kitchen.

 

However, my kitchen that day wasn't the usual.

 

"Seungcheol!" I shouted. The kitchen was filled with gas balloons in every corner and the dining table was decorated beautifully. The breakfast was already cooked. They were pancakes and mine was decorated with blueberries on top of it that said "HBD".

 

"What's up?" he said casually while standing behind me, as if it was all nothing. I turned to him. "What is this?" I asked while covering my mouth because I was such in awe.

 

"Your first surprise," he said.

 

"My first surprise?!" I asked again.

 

"Yes," he said. "Today, you don't have to make your breakfast. Come on, let's eat," he said while dragging me to the dining table.

 

That morning, we ate breakfast together in my kitchen. After that, I prepared for school and we went to school together as usual. When I opened his car door, I just stared at the seat. There was a gift box on it.

 

"What else is this?" I grinned. I went into the car and before he hit the gas, he told me to open the box and I gasped almost immediately. It was a really beautiful dress in my favourite colour, burgundy.

 

“Seungcheol!” I said in excitement, “It’s so beautiful!” I continued and I turned to him.

 

“Please wear it for the dinner with your family tonight,” he said. I nodded. “Of course,” I said, “thank you,” I hugged him from my seat and I kissed him on his cheek. “I love you sooo much!”

 

He my hair and looked at me in the eyes. “I love you, too,” he said. He looked happy. “I’m so glad you like it.”

 

Every year, whether it’s mine, my mom’s, or my dad’s birthday or their wedding anniversary, we usually go out for a dinner to a restaurant and celebrate it with our bigger family members: my grandmother, grandfather, uncles, aunts, and cousins. For that night, of course, I invited Seungcheol too. He was already close to my big family.

 

We arrived at school and every time a friend stopped us for a chat or even just a ‘hi’, he would tell them that it was my birthday.

 

“Happy birthdaaay!” said Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Jeonghan, Seungcheol’s best friends who immediately became my friends too since we got together.

 

I got the attentions I didn’t usually get every day. However, when we met my friends, I thought they forgot what day it was. They greeted me and talked to me like it was just another day. Seungcheol didn’t even mention anything about my birthday to them. But, I just kept it for myself and neither did Seungcheol, I guess. He didn’t bring up anything about the oddness.

 

He walked me to my locker and when I opened it, another treasure unlocked. There were sticky notes inside my locker that said, “Happy 18th birthday, Rachel! I love you, have a great day, God bless you! -CS.”

 

“Oh, wow…” all I could say about the sticky notes. “Hmm… CS? Who could this be? Is he my secret admirer? I wonder…” I teased Seungcheol. Of course I was joking, I knew that CS stood for his name, Choi Seungcheol. He made a serious face and I couldn’t help but laugh and hugged him again. It’s not even half of the day yet and he already made my day—my birthday.

 

At lunch, as usual, I ate with Seungcheol. In my previous class, my friends still hadn’t wished me a happy birthday and I couldn’t help but feel kind of disappointed, despite the amount of attention I got from Seungcheol. Seungcheol’s friends even wished me a happy birthday, but even so, I couldn’t help but wait for my closest friends’ attention. It’s totally natural for me to feel like that, right?

 

“You know,” I started the conversation, “I think my friends forgot about my birthday.”

 

Seungcheol furrowed his forehead while twirling his spaghetti with his fork. “Really?”

 

I nodded. ”Maybe they just..." he paused.

 

"Forgot?" I continued.

 

"I wanted to say, 'haven't remembered yet', but..."

 

I stared at him and he looked down at his lunch. "Sorry," he said.

 

"Don't get me wrong, you worked really hard to make me feel special today and I really appreciate everything you've done, but..." I said, "why should anyone be forgotten on their birthday? Especially by the ones who are close to you and really know you."

 

"Aw, Jagi..." he cuddled me.

 

"Even if they cooperate to pull a prank on me, it still makes me feel insecure, like, what if they really forgot?" I said.

 

"Jagi, don't take it seriously. It's your birthday," he comforted me, "and everyone should be happy on their birthday. Don't let it get to you.”

 

He drove me home after school. “See you tonight, Rach,” he said over his car window before he picked me up only a couple hours later.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked when he saw me, his face worried.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine…” I answered slowly, insecure because I saw the worry in his face. He smirked then said, “Duh, I know.”

 

I laughed in embarrassment. “Stop flirting with me!” I said, followed by his chuckle. We kissed then he said, "But you love it, right?"

 

I rolled my eyes.

 

“Put on your seatbelt, Jagi,” he ordered and so that’s what I did. “Oh, before I forgot, you need one more thing,” he said again. Before I could answer anything, suddenly my vision was all black. “AAA!” I screamed. Someone covered my eyes with a black cloth or whatever it was from the back of my seat.

 

“SEUNGCHEOL, WHAT THE FREAKING HELL—“ I said.

 

Suddenly, horror thoughts were all over my mind. What if all these times Seungcheol was tricking me? Did I just caught the bait? I panicked and I tried to let go of the cloth as hard as I could, but no use, it was so strong. Therefore, I cried.

 

“SEUNGCHEOL, LET ME GO!” I begged in tears. He didn’t respond me. “SEUNGCHEOL!” I shouted again.

 

“Jagi, Jagi, calm down,” he said and I could feel he held my hand. “I’m here, trust me.”

 

“At this kind of time? Of course not!” I answered and I could hear he was holding back his laugh. “And who is this in the back of your seat?!” I asked in a rather pissed tone while trying to reach their hand.

 

Seungcheol took my hand again. “We’re almost there, Jagi,” he said.

 

He drove maybe for five more minutes then he turned off the engine. “We’re here!” he cheered. However, instead of cheering, I thought it was rather creepy. What if that place where we were going to was the place he had chosen to murder me?

 

He guided me out of the car then walked me to the what I thought was the place where he would kill me. I followed his lead in silence, unable to say anything, just sobbing. He put his arm around me while walking me, maybe trying to comfort me. When he stopped, I heard he knocked on the door and I felt uneasy.

 

“Seungcheol…” I called him slowly while sobbing. Still putting his arm around me, he rubbed me. “Be patient, Jagi…” he said. Seconds later, I heard the door was opened and someone in front of me grabbed my hand. Feeling so scared, I resisted.

 

“Jagi, it’s okay,” Seungcheol said calmly.

 

“No,” I said firmly.

 

“Jagi, trust me,” he said again, “I’m here, don’t worry.”

 

Somehow, his tone was very calming and all of a sudden, my worries faded away. I let that other person to take my hand again and then they walked me while Seungcheol was following behind me, putting both of his hands on my shoulders. We walked for a few steps and then I could feel Seungcheol was carefully trying to take the black cloth off my eyes.

 

“Okay, are you ready?” he asked. “I’m going to take this off, but only if you’re ready.”

 

I sobbed. “Okay.”

 

“One, two, three,” he counted.

 

“SURPRISE!” the crowd cheered and they turned out to be my family and friends. The place turned out to be my parents’ house and the hand that took mine? It was my mother! The person who covered my eyes with the cloth when we were in the car? It was Wonwoo! Damn it, why didn’t I expect this? It’s my birthday!

 

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!” they sang. I couldn’t help but feel ashamed and I hugged my mom tightly. “Happy birthday, Sweetheart!” she said. My dad, having his arm around Seungcheol, joined the hug and so, I was smooched in a group hug by the three of them. After they let go, Seungcheol looked at me playfully and put his hands on my cheeks while laughing. “Why are you crying?”

 

Feeling rather annoyed, I just punched him slowly and buried my face in his chest. “I hate you so much.”

 

“I love you so much,” he said while hugging me tight. Then, I looked up and kissed him. After that, I spotted Wonwoo who was taking pictures of the moment. "Youuu!" I called him. He quickly spotted me and laughed. I punched him playfully. "You-really-are-the-meanest!"

 

He kept laughing then pulled me into a hug. "Happy birthday, Rachel."

 

The surprise party was a huge success and I had fun. We had dinner my mom cooked, played games, and had a mini jamming session. After that, my mom asked everyone to gather around for a speech.

 

“Happy birthday to my one and only daughter, Rachel. Time flies so fast, you’ve lived for 18 years now. It feels like it was only yesterday I drove you to school for the first time,” she told us all, “now, you’re a grown up and you don’t need me to drive you to school anymore, because—“

 

Suddenly, we all heard a horn outside.

 

“Oh, who could it be? I’m sorry, just a minute,” she said and she walked to the door. I could feel everyone was confused and the situation got kind of awkward.

 

“Rachel!” my mom called me from the front door and I came over to find my dad driving a new car with a big ribbon on it. “Now, you have this, Rachel!” he said over the window, as if he was continuing my mom’s speech.

 

“What do you mean? This car is mine?!” I asked excitedly. They both nodded and I screamed, making the guests come over. “Oh my God!” they commented.

 

It was indeed the best. Birthday. Ever.

 

Eh, I don’t know. I mean, it was perfect. I turned 17, I had my parents, my family, my friends, and a loving boyfriend by my side. Plus, my parents got me a new car I could drive by myself! But, what I wasn’t aware of was, it was just the start of a new disaster.