“Yubseyo?” _____’s light voice answers the phone.

“Saengil chookhahamnida,saengil chookhahamnida~! Saranghanuen ____, saengil chookhahamnida,” Yoochun sings softly, having stolen away for a few minutes from the afternoon’s activities to do this.

His smile widens when _____ giggles, “Thanks, oppa.”

“Mianhae if I’m interrupting anything. I just wanted to make sure I sang it to you before I see you tonight.”

“You were really able to find time?”

“C’mon, ____. I’m always able to find time for my _____, especially on her special day,” Yoochun says, looking towards his bag where his present for her is.

“Thanks, oppa,” she says again, sounding excited. “Are the others coming too?”

He laughs in disbelief. “You think they’d miss this? They’ll have to finish some things up, but they’ll be there.”

_____ laughs again. “Good. Mianhae, but I’ve got to go. Lunch break’s almost over, but I’ll see you later, right?”

“Right. See you later, _____. Saranghae.”

“Nado saranghae.”

    Yoochun smiles as he hangs up at hearing her say those words even though _____’s said them to him a hundred times before. His smile fades a little as his phone rings with a text, Jaehwa’s name appearing on the screen.

With a slightly guilty feeling, he reads the text:

Oppa, are you free today?

Answering back, he texts:

Mianhae, it’s _____’s birthday today. Me and the guys are celebrating it with her later.

A few minutes later the reply comes:

Oh. Can you at least pick me up from the studio later? I miss you.

After thinking it over and running through their schedule in his head, Yoochun texts back:

I miss you too. Just tell me the time and I’l be there.

    Hours later, Yoochun pulls up in front of the studio Jaehwa was working in for the day. Checking his phone, he smiles to himself, confident that he has enough time to spend with Jaehwa without being late to meet _____. His smile gains a slightly wary look as Jaehwa opens the door and slides inside.

“Annyeong,” she says shyly, smiling up at him from under her eyelashes. “Thanks for getting me.”

“No problem,” Yoochun replies, relaxing a little at her manner.

“Do you mind if we stop to get something to eat before you take me home? I didn’t get to eat all day and...” Jaehwa rests her hand on his and twines her fingers around his before meeting his eyes. “I’ve really missed you. I’m sorry for overreacting about ____. It was stupid. I was stupid.”

    Slowly, she leans across the seat and kisses him. Yoochun slowly kisses her back.

“Saranghae,” she says when she pulls back. “You do still love me, right?”

“I do,” he answers.

++++++++++++++++++++++

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Ayako asks me as I step out of the taxi door that night.

I smile. “I’m sure. Thanks again for the great day. I can’t believe I hadn’t been to a karaoke before. Can we do it again soon?”

“Of course,” she laughs. “I’m really sorry we had to cut it short. I’ll make it up to you soon and tell Yoochun I’m sorry.”

“No, no. It’s not your fault the baby sitter didn’t show up. Go watch your nephew. Yoochun should be here any minute anyway. Have fun.”

“Oh, yes. Cranky five year olds are tons of fun. Thankfully for him, he can be very cute so I’ll put up with him.”

“I understand. Thanks again,” Ayako calls, waving out the window.

    I wave as the taxi pulls away before sitting down on the bench. Humming happily to myself, I glance at my phone. It’s still early, so he has plenty of time to get here. I lean against the bench, smoothing my dress. The color of the tropic sea, I’d bought it especially for tonight. Ayako had helped with my hair and makeup and I look pretty good if I do say so myself. It’s too bad Yejin had to cancel because of last minute work; it’d be nice to have someone to talk to.

    It starts getting colder and darker, making me pull my jacket closer to my body. Looking at my phone, I see Yoochun’s ten minutes late, but it’s nothing to worry about. He probably got caught in traffic.

    
    All my calls to Yoochun go straight to voicemail and it’s thirty minutes past the time we were supposed to meet. I try calling the others as well, but they pick up only long enough to tell me they’re in the middle of something and will call me back when they have the chance. I stand and slowly walk away, often glancing over my shoulder in hopes of seeing Yoochun running up. As I round the corner, I accept the reality of the situation with a heavy heart. They all forgot my birthday. There must be a good reason. I’m sure of it.

    Realizing a tear has slipped past my eyes, I angrily wipe it away. I need to toughen up. Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the hurt, I quickly start walking to my apartment. I tear my hair out of its clips and pins as I stride down the sidewalks. What does it matter now? No one’s going to see.

    Still silently berating myself when I arrive at my apartment building, I dig in my purse for my keys as I climb the stairs. However, as I walk down the hall towards my apartment, I find a strange sight awaiting me. Five women in dresses stand huddled in front of my door with their backs to me. They’re probably lost. As I get closer, I’m able to pick up snatches of their conversation.

“What are we going to do? He said he’d give us the key.”

“Have you tried calling him again?”

“I’ve tried like ten times. His phone is off.”

I come to a stop a few feet away, waiting for them to notice me.

“Maybe he changed the plan and forgot to tell us?”

“No way. He knows we’d kill him if he did that.”

“We’ve got to think of something. She might be back any minute!”

Fed up with being ignored tonight, I cross my arms and loudly ask, “I am back and may I ask just who you are and what you’re doing in front of my door?”

They jump, spinning around to face me.

My jaw drops open. Jaejoong, Yunho, Junsu, and Changmin, all wearing wigs and long dresses, stand beside Ye Jin. “What...what are you guys doing here?

And why are you dressed...like that?”

“The dresses were my idea,” Ye Jin says, giggling. “They wanted to celebrate your birthday with you but couldn’t figure out how to sneak out without anyone noticing.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Jaejoong says with a sheepish grin, motioning to the wrapped boxes each of them are holding.

“Except Yoochun hyung dropped the ball,” Changmin huffs. “He was supposed to get the key from your friend so we could get in and set up before they brought you back here.”

“Where is he, by the way?” Junsu asks, looking expectantly down the hall behind me. “Was he not able to get the key?”

“I don’t know where he is,” I reply softly. “He never showed up where he told me to meet him.”

“What? Do you think something happened?” Yunho immediately asks.

I shake my head and force a smile. “I’m sure he’s fine. He probably got held up in traffic. He’ll call. But why am I making you stand out here with my presents? We can all go in now.”

Ducking my head as I move past them to unlock my door, I push it open with a resolve to not ruin the efforts my friends went through for me.

“I really hope you all brought clothes to change into so you don’t have to stay in those dresses,” I giggle as I turn on the lights and look back at them.

“We did; they’re in Yejin’s backpack,” Changmin replies, looking around my apartment and setting down his things on the table, the others following suite.

“Good. You can change in my room if you’d like. It’s the last door on the right. Go on, I’ll get some tea going.”

I turn away from the worried glances I see them giving me and each other to fumble through the kitchen, hearing them make their way down the hall.

“Unnie,” Yejin says quietly, tentatively touching my shoulder.

“I’m fine,” I assure her, biting my lip. “Yoochun’ll come. He wouldn’t forget. He wouldn’t.”

+++++++++++++++

               Yoochun deposits his keys on the counter, slipping off his jacket. Quietly humming to himself, he tiptoes towards the hall so he won’t wake the others. However, the instant he steps foot in the living room, the light flashes on. Blinking in the sudden brightness, Yoochun finds himself looking back at s, who are arrayed across the couch and chairs.

“Way to scare the hell out of me. Thought you’d be asleep by now. What’s up?” he says, still smiling.

“Where were you?” Yunho asks flatly.

Yoochun’s smile falters a little as he answers. “Had a little date with my girl. That’s allowed, isn’t it?” he teases.

“It is.”

“So what’s wrong?”

“You didn’t forget about anything, did you?” Jaejoong questions him.

“Not that I know of. Oh, wait...”

The others look at him expectantly.

“It was my turn for laundry, right? Sorry, I promise I’ll do it first thing in the morning. Night, guys.” Yoochun turns to continue down the hall, missing the others’ shocked faces.

“It’s not that!” Junsu’s unusually angry voice stops Yoochun in his tracks, especially since it’s aimed at him.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asks, slowly coming back into the room.

“Think about it, hyung. Think really hard,” Changmin says, glaring at him. “What’s today’s date?”

“Saturday, August ....” Yoochun’s frown fades as the realization comes into his face. “_______’s birthday,” he whispers.

Changmin continues glaring at him, unimpressed. “Bull’s eye. And ‘was’ is probably a better word choice considering the time.”

“Wait, did you guys-”

“Yes,” Yunho interrupts him. “We went there, just as planned, but it didn’t go just as planned seeing as you never bothered to grace us with your presence.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“We did. Numerous times. _____ showed up without you and said she couldn’t get through to you either.”

“But my phone never rang!” Yoochun protests. Grabbing his phone from his pocket, he tries to look but the phone’s screen is black. He turns it on to find over twenty missed calls. “Jaehwa must have accidentally turned it off when she used it,” he whispers.

“How could you forget? We’ve been planning this for weeks,” Jaejoong says, breaking into Yoochun’s thoughts.

“I don’t know. I picked Jaehwa up from the studio and was going to drop her off so I’d make it in time, but then she wanted to grab something to eat because she hadn’t eaten all day and....I don’t know what happened.”

“Do you know how upset _________ was when you didn’t show up?” Junsu asks. “She tried to hide it and enjoy the party but when I called to check up on her Yejin said she started crying after we left.”

Yoochun feels his heart stop at the thought of ____’s tears. “Crying?”

“Yes. Crying. You’re her best friend and you forgot her,” Jaejoong reminds him. “You hurt her.”

“I have to see her,” he says, already heading towards the door.

“She’s already asleep. Yejin’s staying with her,” Junsu tells him.

“You’ll have to wait until tomorrow night.” Yunho holds up his hand to stop Yoochun’s protests. “Like Junsu said, she’s already asleep and we have things to do in the morning. You can call her then, but you’ll have to wait to see her and apologize in person.”

Yoochun sinks to the floor, his back against the wall. Running his hands through his hair, he mutters, “How could I have forgotten? I’m a horrible friend. She’s never going to forgive me.”

The others share a look, their faces softening. Rising together, they sit on Yoochun’s remaining sides.

“She will. _______ really loves you,” Jaejoong soothes, placing a hand on Yoochun’s shoulder and squeezing it.

“You think so?” Yoochun sniffles.

“Of course. It may take awhile, but Yejin always forgives me for the stupid things I do,” Junsu chuckles.

“But she’s your girlfriend and I bet you’ve done nothing this bad.”

Junsu rolls his eyes. “And we were friends before. You really think I only started doing stupid things after I started dating her? This one time, I was messing around in her studio and I accidentally knocked over a can of paint and it sprayed all over a painting she was doing for her mom. She got really upset, but she was only mad for a day and then it was fine.”

Yoochun is silent for a few seconds, but his eyes start watering again. “But it didn’t make her cry, did it? I can’t believe I did this. Even if ____ forgives me, I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive myself.”

“You won’t have a choice if you don’t want to hurt her more,” Jaejoong points out.

“Noona will forgive you; that’s just who she is,” Changmin adds. “She’ll probably do it way before she should.”

“Changmin,” Yunho scolds quietly.

He just shrugs. “It’s true. Yoochun hyung’s got a lot of up to do.”

“I know it,” Yoochun sighs sadly, getting up and wiping his eyes. “I’m going to shower.”

The others nod, watching silently and unsure of what else to say as Yoochun walks down the hall to their bedroom.

    Closing the door behind him, Yoochun closes the door and leans against it, guilt still dominating his mind. He walks over to his dresser, opening the top drawer, carefully takes out a small box and takes off the lid. His fingers lightly brush over the delicate feathers, serene face, and flowing gown of the angel pendant on its thin chain. He’d known it’d been perfect when he’d seen it, tucked away in the corner of an antique shop they’d been shooting by. Perfect for _____, his best friend and his angel. But how does one regain the trust of a betrayed angel?

“You deserve better than me, _____," Yoochun whispers. "Much better.”