Two weeks had gone by and working for Jiyong had made it easier for me. He was smiling more and I could finally start a conversation with him.

I found him an apartment suite just a few blocks from the office. It was a penthouse suite that was located in a 20-storey building. I hadn't checked with a real estate broker regarding the interior of the place but I already suggested it to Jiyong via e-mail. He probably had visited the site over the weekend since he told me that he loved it. He told me that he had already signed the papers to own the apartment suite. He was scheduled to move within this week or the next week.

When Friday morning came, I woke up early to the smell of greasy bacon. I hurried out the door and saw Seungri stirring some eggs on the pan.

"Good morning, birthday girl!" He greeted excitedly.

I rolled my eyes playfully, "Seungri, my birthday is not until tomorrow. But I'm not complaining." I grinned as I took a seat on our kitchen counter. I was already full of energy with Seungri's effort to make me breakfast. He was the best in baking his moist dark chocolate cake, literally speaking. Every year, he would make one for me. I was turning twenty-four tomorrow yet I still love the idea of birthdays and cakes.

"Dee, what's your plan for tomorrow?" Seungri asked as he served me a plate. I dug my fork onto the scrambled eggs and took a bite off some crispy bacon strips.

I was in thought for a few seconds as I slowly chewed on my food. "Hmm. I want to help you bake that cake for me. I'm not sure what to do after. Probably stay indoors and watch a movie."

Seungri rolled his eyes, "So typical of you. It's not going to happen. I'm taking you out."

"I don't want you to take me to a club." I groaned.

"You're going to have fun with me whether you like it or not." He smiled mischievously. I wasn't really fond of Seungri making plans for me. I was sure he would take me out to a club, like what happened last year. It was dark, noisy and people were sweating all over.

"Just take me to Lotte World, please." I begged him. It was after all every child's dream to go there.

He snorted, "Not going to happen. I'm taking you out to dinner and maybe get a few drinks after then go home. Deal?"

"Fine," I let out a sigh. I couldn't say no to my best friend. He was really trying. In fact, he was the only one that kept me from rotting inside this apartment.

He squealed a little too loudly, "Great! I have an outfit that you could borrow. It would go great for tomorrow night." I was too tired to argue with Hugh so I just smiled and sincerely thanked him.

I got ready for work and headed out. I was on time when I arrived at Kwon Corporation. Hwangssabu greeted me at the door. He had the morning shift this month so I haven't had the time to catch up with him whenever I headed out from work.

"Ms. Park!" someone called out from somewhere. I turned to my left, I saw the receptionist, Minzy who was waving at me. She signaled me to come closer to the reception desk.

"Hey, Minzy. Good morning." I smiled and greeted her. She smiled back and said, "Hi. I just wanted to let you know that there would be a meeting that would occur at eight o'clock today."

I checked the wall clock that was above Minzy and saw that it was almost eight o'clock. Nobody told me about a meeting and it wasn't scheduled on my planner. Jiyong must have called an emergency meeting but I should have been informed first since I was his assistant. I was in a jumbled state. I just thanked Brenda and hurried my steps to the elevator.

I questioned the situation in my head as I came to the elevator and pressed the button to the fortieth floor. I entered the lounge, nobody was even waiting around and the area was quiet. I went inside my office and settled my things down. I prepared my planner, a pad of paper and a pen. It was for me to take down notes during the meeting.

As I entered the conference room, it was pitch black. Huh, I guess nobody was really here yet. I reached for the light switch and when the light was ; people jumped up at the same time and yelled, "SURPRISE!"

I yelped in shock but I was glued to my spot. Everyone who had become a friend or an acquaintance in this company through the years was here to surprise and celebrate with me. They sang me a happy birthday song and presented me a cake that was frosted with whipped cream then topped with fresh berries. On top of the cake was a lighted candle that would be for me to make a wish.

I beamed at them then proceeded to close my eyes as I thought hard for a wish. I came up with nothing. I just told the grantor of wishes that I was just really thankful for everything despite the instances that I had gone through. I lost a number of people in my life. Yet, I gained a lot through my experiences. It taught me on how to survive on my own and it made me stronger.

I opened my eyes and blew on the candle. Everyone clapped and wished me a happy birthday. I was startled when I heard poppers from behind me. Confetti was flying throughout the conference room and people were rejoicing. I quickly turned around as I saw Hwangssabu and Minzy who had popped them. They came in last since they had to lie to my face and lead me here to my surprise. It was very clever of them to act as if it was nothing.

I was too overwhelmed and happy, "You guys are sneaky! Thank you. I would hug each one of you but that would take a while. Group hug!" I initiated and they gladly cooperated.

"We all know that your birthday is tomorrow so we decided to celebrate it today since there would be no office then." Minzy beamed as she told me.

My eyes scanned the whole room to look at everyone. I genuinely smiled, "It's perfect. Thanks everyone."

Before we all headed back to work, we stayed inside the conference room while we chatted and ate the delicious cake that they gave me. I had set aside a slice for Jiyong. I couldn't find him in his office. Turned out, he had arrived a little late after the mini-party my co-workers had thrown in the conference room.

"Sorry I was late. Do I have any important calls or a scheduled meeting today?" Jiyong asked me as he stood by my door. He was in business mode so a friendly chat with him was out of the question. I was going to offer him some cake but decided against it.

"No sir." I answered back.

He nodded, "I'll be in my office then. I'm a phone away when something comes up."

I was kind of disappointed that he wasn't there when everyone tried to surprise me. But as expected, we weren't really the best of buddies anyway.

I continued on with my work for the rest of the day. I was glad that it was finally the weekend.

The next morning, Seungri woke me up early to have my birthday breakfast in bed which composed of a tall stack of pancakes topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and chocolate chips. On the side were a few strips of bacon, scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice. I wasn't even grumpy when Seungri nearly knocked me off my bed while he tried to wake me up.

"Hruuh, zesh ish sooo gurwwddd," whilst chewing food in my mouth.

"Don't talk when your mouth is full." He chuckled. He loved it when I praised his cooking skills.

"So, our first activity for the day is to bake your cake. Then later tonight, I'm taking you out. No excuses." He continued as he gave me a wink.

I just nodded in agreement as I continued to devour on my breakfast. After I had finished, I went out of my room and put the tray of empty plate and glass in the kitchen sink. Seungri was now preparing the ingredients for my cake. I didn't bother changing into some fresh clothes since we would be handling chocolate. I was in Seungri's large white tee and boxer shorts, my usual comfort clothes inside the apartment.

"Thanks for doing this, Seungri." I appreciated him and that made him smile.

"Anything for you, babe. Now hand me the stand mixer will you." He instructed. I got the stand mixer from the bottom cabinet and put it on the counter.

"Everyone from the office surprised me with cake yesterday. It wasn't chocolate though but the fresh berries were divine." I started sharing what had happened yesterday at work.

Seungri snorted, "Psssh, my cake is better than anyone else's."

"That's true though." I giggled.

We were now mixing the cake batter to be transferred into a baking pan. Seungri loaded it in the preheated oven after everything had been done. It would take about half an hour to bake. While waiting for the cake, Seungri taught me how to make ganache. It was just whipping cream and chocolate compound mixed together. I usually went for dark chocolate as it tasted better.

"Hey Dee, whatever happened to that immaculate--god-of-a-boss of yours? You haven't talked about him in a while. Did you sleep with him already? Don't you dare keep that crucial detail from me," he started to question while he kept stirring the ganache to homogenously combine them.

I choked on my saliva and coughed for a whole minute before I responded with, "What? Are you crazy?" He was getting ridiculous with his assumptions that I started laughing.

I didn't see it coming when I felt something cold on my left cheek. Seungri just flicked the rubber spatula with