“Thanks guys!” I grinned at Mingyu and Yubin and blew out the candle. As they both applauded, Mingyu bowed.

“Today, we shall serve you,” he said.

“‘We’? You mean ‘you’,” Yubin laughed as Mingyu gave him a desperate look. I laughed with him and shook my head.

“No worries boys. No need to serve me. Just make it normal but invite the rest here. Let’s party all day today.”

They wasted no time in calling everyone, including Jiseok. The party was in full swing when I stepped out of my room and walked downstairs. They all stopped to congratulate me.

“You look amazing Nari!” Woozi complimented me and I felt a heat rise up my cheeks.

“This isn’t really much,” I said, gesturing to the light blue dress and the flats I was wearing.

“You look beautiful,” Jeonghan said and I smiled.

“Thanks you guys. How’s Mingyu going in the kitchen?”

“Well, he’s got Seokmin and Yubin’s help,” Jun said. I stepped into the kitchen, where it was chaos.

“Seok, look over the pot! Make sure it doesn’t over boil. Bin, how’s the cake going?”

Yubin, with his back turned to me, was mixing together a batter.

“It looks okay,” he said, lifting the whisk to see if it was runny enough.

“What kind of cake is it?” I asked, startling all 3 boys.

“Your favorite!” Yubin said.

“Strawberry?”

“What?” all of them shouted. I laughed.

“Just kidding. You know vanilla cake is my all-time favorite.”

“We knew...” they were relieved and continued cooking. Mingyu steered me out of the kitchen.

“This is your day. Have some fun!” he said.

As I continued mingling with our guests, the cake was finished near the end of the night. They sang to me and as I blew out the candles, I only made one wish.

We sent the boys off and I saw Jiseok and Mingyu talking about something. Mingyu nodded and they shook hands. Mingyu came over to me.

“Let’s watch the stars tonight. It’s warm and promise of no rain happening.”

“Sure, let’s do it. Yubin, you wanna join us?”

“Nah, it’s alright,” he said. “I’ve got some homework I wanna finish by tonight.”

Mingyu helped me lay out some blankets and we laid there together, gazing at the star studded night sky. Using his arm as a pillow, I sighed.

“This is really nice,” I said. “I haven’t done anything like this since…”

Mingyu seemed to get what I was referring. “You don’t have to say anything.”

We laid there in silence. I decided it was time.

“Mingyu, can I tell you something?”

“I like you.”

“Wait, what?”

“I like you. I’m pretty sure you heard me the first time right?”

I thought my heart would burst as I looked at him and squeezed my eyes tight as he smiled and pressed his lips to my forehead.

“Mingyu, I… I don’t know what to say…”

“I’ll grant your wish now.”

“My wish?”

He dangled something in front of my face and I saw it was the key I had seen when we were ice skating.

“Oh!” I hurriedly pulled out my locket and took his key he offered me. I carefully lodged it into the keyhole, and heard a click as it opened for me. I plucked out the small piece of folded paper and unfolded it.

To our beautiful Nari,

We’re glad you’ve been able to open the locket successfully. Does this mean you’ve found your soulmate? We hope he treats you well. Were the rings heavy? One is for you, the other for your partner, who will protect you to the end. Even if we’re not here, we want you to continue being happy no matter what. We’re watching over you from above. Thank you for being the brilliant light in our world. We love you.

I picked up the rings and saw that they were my parents’ wedding rings. Mingyu gently took them from me and bent down on one knee in front of me, despite me already sitting.

“Hong Nari. In a few years time, will I be able to call you my wife?”

I nodded. “Of course you will. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

He hugged me and slipped my mother’s ring onto my finger and I did the same for him. Looking at the rings made a waterfall of tears come out from my eyes. As he embraced me and caressed my hair, I let out all the emotions I had held in flow out. When I was done, Mingyu held onto my hands.

“Happy birthday Nari,” Mingyu whispered, dropping a kiss on my head. We laid back down on the blankets and I snuggled closer to Mingyu.

“Thank you Mingyu. For everything,” I said softly as he hugged me. I then fell asleep in his arms.

 

A/N: Thanks for subscribing to this story, there will be one more chapter before I end this one and start a new one! Thanks again for all the support :)