I laughed out loud when Hyoyeon tried to harmonize with Tiffany in an Adele song. My soshi eonnis were tipsy, alright. We were celebrating my birthday. Nothing’s changed really. They used to do this every time a member reached another age. I was grateful though. No number of gifts could beat this kind of moment.

I was about to ask for Seohyun when our maknae emerged from the door. She was all smiles when she handed me two presents.

“Wow, so extra generous this year.” I chuckled and pulled her into a tight hug.

“The brown paper bag is a gift from me and Yonghwa oppa but that one in blue box came from another person.” She informed me with that playful smirk painted on her lips.

 “So okay I’m really curious.” I rolled my eyes to hide my expression. Seohyun laughed knowingly. She knew I was well-aware who that person was. She patted my cheek and went to join the other members who were now dancing like crazies, led by Yuri and Sooyoung, of course.

I went inside my room and placed the gifts on my bed. I opened Seohyun and Yonghwa’s first. It was an envelope with two round plane tickets and a paper showing a hotel accommodation in Maldives. I once told them that I would like to go there for a vacation and looked like they never forgot about it… really a generous couple.

My heart thumped crazily when I took a glance at the blue box. Without further thinking, I opened it. There I found an antique locket with flower intricate on it. It was so simple and beautiful. I noticed a small paper attached on the box.

I saw this in Macau and it reminded me of you. Hope you like it. Happy birthday, Im Yoona.

I wiped that lone tear cascading on my cheek. I hurriedly looked for my phone and dialled his number. After three rings, he answered.

“Hey, happy birthday.”

“Thank you and really thank you for the gift. It’s so beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it. It’s not too fancy though.”

“You are a person who doesn’t give lavish gifts so who am I to expect something like that this year?”

“So true. Small things matter, right?”

“Right.”

“So how did you celebrate your birthday?”

I lied on my bed and narrated him everything. I heard him laughed. I heard him sighed. I heard him snickered. I missed this kind of moment with him. I really missed him. We talked random things. We talked about our plans. We talked like we never done this for the past few months. Then he went silent. I started to feel worried that I might something offensive… but he spoke again.

“You know I’m grateful, right? I’m just grateful that no matter how up I was before, you still talk to me like this. With you coming back in my life, is my greatest birthday gift this year.”

“But I’m not yet ready to give more than this…”

“I know and I understand that. I am willing to wait, Im Yoona. “

“Even if it takes years?”

“Will it really take years for you before you give me another chance?”

“Hmm… it might.”

“Then we’ll take this slow. I will wait for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Yoona~yah…”

“Hmm?...”

“I love you.”

I smiled widely because even I wasn’t yet ready to say it back, I knew he knew what I felt. So I told him my most honest reply.

“I’m happy. You make me happy, Lee Jonghyun.”

We were perfectly imperfect. We were two opposite individuals. Our story had its twists and turns. We never knew when we would get untangled from these complications but we will fight them. There will be no turning back.  Just moving forward… together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEERBURNING COUPLE!

Yes. I officially missed them. You feel me? Hurhur