Yoona had been surprised by countless students ever since classes started for her this morning. Some had wished her calmly and some wished her extravagantly, showering her with gifts as well as songs. Yet, the aching gap in her heart couldn't be filled as she registered that her own boyfriend hasn't wished her.

Unlike last year where Yuri made sure he was the first to wish her, he hadn't breathed a word about it last night or today. Neither he nor Mrs Kwon had wished her and Yoona didn't know if she should be understanding or a little annoyed.

All she received from her boyfriend was, “sorry, Yoong… I have last-minute practice today.”

“Happy birthday, Yoona!”

“Happy birthday to our school’s goddess!”

“Hope everything goes well for you today! Happy birthday, Yoona!” 

She had no choice but to continue forcing a smile on her face; after all, she was more than thankful that all this people had bothered to remember when she didn't even know half of them personally. 

A gasp left her lips when she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her, “Sica-unnie… I know it’s you.” Jessica huffed and released her arms from Yoona's waist, pulling back with a pout, “You’re no fun, Im Yoona… even on your birthday.” 

“You can’t blame me when you always wear the same perfume!” Yoona cried out earnestly, poking Jessica’s waist with an even cuter pout to back her up. Jessica relented with a sigh and pressed her lips against Yoona’s cheek briefly, “happy birthday, baby girl.” Yoona squealed and threw her arms around Jessica, hugging her dearest cousin tightly. 

Jessica knew Yoona's smile was genuine this time, considering how she had been keeping an eye on the younger one since this morning. She had been given specific orders to keep quiet about tonight's event and she was going to keep shut as long as possible. If she didn't, there would probably be 6 monkeys coming for her . 

“Come on… I’ll bring you for lunch.”

It wasn't new for them to receive attention but neither would ever get used to it. Jessica and Yoona were merely walking around the cafeteria, trying to decide on what to have for lunch today but everyone's eyes were on them as if they were going to steal something and run away with it. 

“Sica! Yoong!”

Turning to the loud, shrill voice calling for them, they saw Tiffany and Hyoyeon who were excitedly waving to them.

“No need for lunch! We’ve got it covered!”

Yoona’s eyes twinkled when she realized that the table was practically covered with a variety of her favourites. She grabbed Jessica’s wrist and rushed to the table, “come on, unnie!” 

Tiffany was the first to greet Yoona, showering her sister from another mother with kisses, “happy birthday, beautiful!” Yoona couldn’t stop giggling at Tiffany’s loving affection, her cheeks turning a bit pinkish at her brave gesture. Taeyeon rolled his eyes and pushed Tiffany off Yoona, giving the birthday girl a gentle hug, “Happy birthday, Yoong. I’ll pass you your present soon.” 

Hyoyeon, Sooyoung and Sunny wished Yoona as well, making her heart flutter with the well wishes and heartfelt gestures she received from her friends. Yoona was more than thankful, her eyes starting to well with tears when she caught sight of Jessica carrying the cake a few steps away. 

“Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to Yoongie… Happy birthday to you…”

Yoona interlocked her fingers and closed her eyes sincerely, making a wish. She wasn't aware that there was a presence standing in front of her with a wide grin, knowing that she wasn't expecting this at all. “Mmm… AHHHH!!!” Yoona screamed, seeing her boyfriend’s face right in front of her very own, his pearly whites being exposed as he continued to grin at her.

Yuri stood back to his full height and walked around the table, his hands going around Yoona's waist, “happy birthday, princess.” Yoona huffed and smacked Yuri's arms around her waist, turning around to face her cheeky boyfriend, “I thought you forgot, you meanie!” 

“Oh come on!” Yuri sulked, “do you really think I would forget my baby’s birthday?”

When Yoona nodded confidently, Yuri immediately turned to his friends with puppy eyes. Unfortunately, his friends weren’t on his side either.

“Yeah, we think so too…”

Yoona thought her birthday would be the day Yuri matured a little but to no one's surprise, Yuri still sulked like a little boy who who got his lollipop stolen from him. She couldn't hide her amusement at how well she knew Yuri, chuckling to herself. 

“Yah,” Yoona slapped Yuri’s arm, “are you going to sit there instead of blowing the candles with me?” Yuri leaped up and locked his arms around Yoona’s shoulders, pressing his forehead against Yoona’s. Yoona let out an involuntary gasp at Yuri’s bold skinship in front of so many people, her face warming up at Yuri’s charismatic gaze. 

When Yoona saw Yuri's lips part, she shut her eyes in reflex. 

“YAY! TIME TO CUT CAKE!” 

Are you freaking kidding me?

Yoona was in a complete state of shock when she realised Yuri had just tricked her into thinking that he was going to kiss her. Yuri was now standing in front of her birthday cake with the most excited smile she had seen, clapping his hands excitedly as he waited to receive his share of it. 

Oh well then... he was going to get it from her.

“Yoooonnnggggg…” Yuri whined, holding onto Yoona’s arm with the most pitiful pout ever. He wanted to bring Yoona to the field on the pretext of having some motivation during his practice but she wouldn't budge. “What?” Yoona asked, glaring at Yuri with a look she thought was fierce but it obviously didn’t mean the same to him seeing how he was trying to hide his laughter.

Sunny couldn’t handle the cheesy couple in front of her, her hand swatting Yoona’s bum lightly, “stop playing hard to get and follow him before I push both of you down the stairs.” Hyoyeon placed her fingers on the back of Yuri’s neck and pulled him downwards, whispering into his ear, “you better find a way to persuade her. I didn’t go round asking everyone for help for nothing!” 

Yuri bit his lip and leaned his head against Yoona's, “okay, I’m sorry… You can punish me another time, not now.” Yoona mentally cursed at herself for not being able to harden her heart towards Yuri, a sigh leaving her lips. Yuri almost jumped in happiness when he felt Yoona's body relax, “I promise you won’t regret it!” 

Seeing how excited and hyped Yuri was, Yoona knew she wasn't just going to watch his practice; there was definitely something up his sleeve. She was going to let Yuri have his way for once before she made sure he paid for fooling her just now. 

And thank God she did.

Yoona's hand flew to when she saw multiple soccer balls spread across the field, spelling out the words: 'I Love You'. She looked further to the right and saw baseballs forming the shape of a birthday cake; on her left were the baseball team holding up a huge banner that stated: ‘Happy birthday, Princess!’ 

How could Yuri plan all this? 

Unless.... 

“Where did you have time to do this?” Yoona turned to Yuri with a narrowed gaze, “I thought you were so busy with practice that you had to cancel our tutoring sessions.”

Yuri flashed a shy grin, his lips curling at the ends rather bashfully when he realised Yoona had probably seen through his act. “Well… I had to bargain with my coach and a few others to use the field for the past week or so but I got that covered,” Yuri paused and thought for a while, “and Hyo managed to convey my message to my team members so…”

How adorable.

How adorable could Yuri get, honestly?

Whenever Yoona remembered how big of a baby Yuri could be, she would automatically think of a way to assuage him. Yet at such a time like this, Yuri proved himself more worthy of her than any other guy who had chased her or even dated her before. It was difficult to believe that she was Yuri’s first girlfriend.

Yoona frowned a little and brought a hand to her chin, “why didn’t you clear the field though? It’s so messy.” Yuri’s jaw dropped, his face turning from Yoona’s to the field. “Can’t you see that the soccer balls and baseballs are spelling out something?” Yuri asked, his hands gesturing wildly to the formation of the balls.

Seeing his girlfriend shake her head, her eyes showing that she was more than just confused disappointed Yuri. He had put in so much effort to show her how much he loved her but it wasn’t going well. He let out a heavy breath, his fringe flying upwards.

“Yoong… are you being serious right now?” Yuri asked, before turning back to look at his surprise, “or… did I write it wrongly?”

It took loads of effort for Yoona to keep herself from breaking into a fit of giggles at Yuri’s mumbling. She could read it as clear as day, she just wanted to . Yuri was one of the only people who wouldn’t know when she was pranking him so Yoona took her chances very seriously; it was so difficult to prank anyone else. 

“I really can’t read it, Yul.” Yoona sighed, “why don’t you read it out for me?”

Oh boy.

Was she serious about this?

Yuri didn’t know if he could hold in his embarrassment because well, he wasn’t used to saying such cheesy things with an audience watching from behind them. He might not have turned around but he knew there was easily half the school standing behind them with envious stares.

Yoona grabbed onto Yuri’s forearm and pulled him to stand behind her, making him back hug her, “come on, don’t I deserve some special treatment on my birthday?” Yuri leaned his chin against Yoona’s shoulder and let out a soft whimper, “b-but it’s already so clear!” Yoon