“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!” Jimin sang, bringing in the huge cake into the living room.

Jin’s eyes widened, which Jiyeong didn’t think was possible considering that they were quite round in the first place. “How did you guys remember?” he exclaimed.

Namjoon laughed. “Why would we forget?”

Jimin placed the cake on the table. Jin glanced at the top of the cake and laughed. Someone had decided to get creative with rainbow sprinkles and had made an effort to create an image of a dinosaur on top of the smooth coat of white frosting. “Who did this?”

“Why don’t you guess?” Namjoon smiled.

Jin immediately turned his head toward Jimin. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Jimin groaned. “Why would you think that? Why does everyone think I’m always the one making childish drawings?”

Taehyung let out a laugh. “I had art with you in middle school,” he reminded Jimin. “And I showed everyone that dog you drew.”

“I didn’t even know it was a dog,” Jungkook whispered to Jiyeong. “Half of us thought it was a giraffe and the other half an alien.” Jiyeong suppressed a giggle and Jimin stared at them suspiciously.

“I was me,” Namjoon admitted. Bursts of laughter rang throughout the room.

“What?” Jin was flabbergasted. “But you always got an A in art!”

“I guess my cake-decorating skills aren’t that great,” Namjoon said with a shrug.

“Here, birthday Hyung.” Jimin handed Jin a box wrapped in silver paper. It looked like someone had tried to fold the paper so it would wrap nicely around the box but gave up in the end and smashed the paper into the shape of the box.

Jin grinned. “Now this is Jimin’s work.” Everyone laughed as Jimin huffed, but he didn’t refute Jin’s guess.

He tore the wrapping and opened the box. Inside was a tiny photo of Jimin. Jin burst out laughing.

“We thought you’d want to keep that with you always. I’ve even signed it on the back,” Jimin said.

“Just what I wanted,” Jin gasped sarcastically in between laughter.

“Did you really think we’d allow Jimin to wrap your real present?” Namjoon pulled out another gift from under the coffee table. This time, it was neatly wrapped in gold paper.

The front door suddenly slammed open. All heads turned to see Hoseok come into the room with his usual cold demeanor.

“Hey, Hoseok! Come here and celebrate Hyung’s birthday with us! And why are you so late to this Gathering; you just broke one of the House of Secrets’ traditions!” Jimin called out.

Hoseok stared at the group with icy eyes. They pinpointed Jiyeong. “The House of Secrets’ rules are already broken. Why bother with traditions?” he sneered. Jiyeong felt like a dagger just stabbed her chest.

Silence ensued as Hoseok left by entering the hallway. “What a mood-kill,” Jimin muttered.

“Ignore him,” Namjoon stated. “Jin, you should blow out the candles before wax drips onto that dinosaur I took so much effort and time to create.”

Jiyeong forced a smile onto her face as she sang the happy birthday song along with the others. Her mind was on only one person the rest of the evening.

Jiyeong paused, her fist just inches away from the door. Her heart was thumping in her ears. She uttered a small silent sigh. The hallway was dark; she was sure that most of the residents were already asleep or preparing to do so. Yet she couldn’t sleep. Not until she faced him.

Gathering her courage, Jiyeong lightly knocked on the door. In the silence, the soft knocks seemed especially loud. She winced and waited. Holding her breath, she stood there for a few minutes and then inwardly sighed. Must she go through that painful process again?

Unexpectedly, the door opened. Hoseok was standing in the light shining out into the hallway with a frown on his face. Once he saw Jiyeong standing in the dark, his brow furrowed.

“Wait!” Jiyeong cried out before he could shut the door. Hoseok’s face darkened further, which Jiyeong hadn’t thought was possible.

“Hoseok, I’m really sorry. Please…” Jiyeong felt hot tears rush into the corners of her eyes. She honestly didn’t know what else to say but beg forgiveness, which she knew she didn’t really deserve.

Hoseok stared at her with his piercing eyes for a moment. Jiyeong fought to avert her eyes from his. “You’re the girl from the night of the party, right?” he asked abruptly. “The one with Taehyung.”

Jiyeong nodded. Hoseok closed his eyes. For a second, a mixture of complex emotions surfaced on his face and sank back in. The girl widened her eyes while trying to decipher them in the short time span they were visible.

“I’m confused.” Jiyeong twitched in surprise at the softness, the vulnerability in Hoseok’s voice. “I’m so very confused right now.” He opened his eyes and Jiyeong finally found the windows into his soul. He looked like he was in pain.

Jiyeong opened and then closed it. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to do. So she averted her eyes, away from those honest eyes. A pang ran through her heart.

“Do you want to know why I kept searching for that girl from that night?” His voice was now a soft whisper. Jiyeong said nothing.

“Because she looked like you.” Jiyeong returned her gaze to his eyes. Her eyes were as round as the full moon. Hoseok’s voice broke for a moment, and then he continued. “Because…”

Without finished his sentence, he leaned slightly down and pressed his lips to Jiyeong’s. Jiyeong froze in shock, unable to even blink.

Hoseok withdrew, but his face was merely five inches away from Jiyeong’s. Their eyes were locked. “You stole my heart when I didn’t even think I had one,” he whispered.

It's already the 29th chapter!! Thank you, readers, who have been with me since Chapter One! I hope you enjoy this update and please tell me how you feel about it in the comments below! :D