That particular morning felt different, for some reason, like it was chirpier and brighter, and Hyejin didn't realise why until she received a 'Happy Birthday' message from her mother. She treated herself to a hearty breakfast, and took her time in the shower. Everything felt great. That morning, when Chen came to her subway station as he had been doing for the past few days, she noticed his cast was finally off and he dragged her to the car park, where his car was parked. 

 

Hyejin couldn't help but blush. "Are you sure your arm is okay? You don't have to drive me to work because today's... You know..." 

 

Chen stared at Hyejin, curious. "Today's what? I just couldn't wait to be able to drive again and to drive you to and fro work instead of taking the subway." 

 

"You don't know?" Hyejin asked softly. 

 

Chen grabbed her shoulders and studied her face. "What day is today? Am I supposed to remember something?" 

 

Her face fell. And then the chirpy, happy feeling too. "Nothing." She didn't exactly know why she expected him to remember her birthday, actually, but now that he hadn't, she couldn't help but feel the little tinge of disappointment make its way through her body. Hyejin knew she should've set her expectations lower so no matter what happened in the course of the day, she wouldn't wallow so deep in the puddle of disappointment she was in now. 

 

Work was dreary as well, and the heavy feeling in her heart was a more than huge contrast from what Hyejin was feeling this morning. Chaeyoung hadn't come to work, and Jinkyung was being especially crabby that day. Taehwan looked tired, so Hyejin decided not to bother him too much and Chen, well… 

 

It wasn't until lunch time when Chen talked to her again. He bounded over to her table and slid into the empty seat beside her, because Jinkyung and Taehwan had gone out with the assumption that both Hyejin and Chen would be staying in for lunch, as they had always been doing — not that Chen and Hyejin minded. 

 

"Jasmine, you look sad," he observed, leaning in to peer at Hyejin. 

 

"Huh? No, I'm not," she lied instinctively, shying away from him. She could feel his gaze on her for a second, and then she caught a sigh. 

 

"You needn't lie for me." 

 

Then, without warning, Chen reached over and slid his hand into Hyejin's. He stood up and pulled her out of the room. Hyejin trailed behind, struggling to keep up — it all had happened in such a short amount of time that her brain couldn't exactly process anything. She'd just been dragged along. 

 

"W-Where are we going?" She heaved. Chen didn't answer until they were out of the office, across a few streets, down an avenue, into a mall, and in front of a colourfully lit place. 

 

By this time, he was out of breath as well, but he still somehow managed to have a smile glide across his features. "A place that'll cheer you up," he replied, then nodded upwards at the neon sign. 

 

Looking upwards as well, Hyejin felt a giggle bubble in , but she wasn't going to let it out that easily — after all, she was still kind of upset. She coughed. "The arcade? How is this place supposed to 'cheer me up'?" 

 

"You'll see." Chen's hand was still grasping onto Hyejin's, and she felt a shot of warmth as he tugged at her hand, gently willing her to enter the arcade. And then she couldn't help it — she let the small giggle escape in the form of a excited laugh. 

 

They stopped in front of a claw machine, and Chen pointed eagerly at the glass as if he was a five-year old. Hyejin wondered for a moment how this man was the same one she saw at his desk sometimes, poring over his work, all energy dissipated from his face. The thought vanished when she saw that he had begun to dig in his wallet for coins. 

 

"Which one do you want?" He chirped. In the machine were small bears of different colours, each holding a heart in its little paws. 

 

Hyejin pretended to ponder for a moment, letting her gaze fall on the many bears in the claw machine. "Let's see… I like the cream-coloured one." She didn't know if it was part of her imagination, but she thought she saw Chen hesitate for a moment. 

 

"Don't you like brighter colours usually? Like the mint-coloured one or something?" He asked with a hint of urgency in his tone, jabbing his finger at the small mint-coloured bear lying upside-down in the corner of the machine, buried under a few other bears. Hyejin had to admit didn't see that bear or she would have chosen it indeed, but she decided not to say anything to Chen. 

 

"It doesn't matter which I like anyway," she said, scrunching her nose up. "These claw machines are frauds. You never win anything from them." 

 

"Aye, Hyejin, the fact you've never beaten these bad boys doesn't mean I never will as well," Chen cheeked, his voice returning back to the usual jaunty one it was. He tossed a coin up and down in his hand, then proceeded to slide it into the claw machine, making it spring into life all of a sudden, cheery music blaring from its speakers and colourful lights flashing. 

 

"I'm going to win this thing!" He exclaimed with determination, and Hyejin shook her head, laughing. For some reason, his innocent cheeriness was extremely endearing that day. 

 

"You're ridiculous. I'll go walk around the arcade and see what other stuff there are to play," she called over the loud music, but Chen seemed too concentrated on moving the claw to notice. 

 

Hyejin never thought she would feel self-conscious in an arcade, but she did. In her formal work attire — a dress shirt and pencil skirt — she felt a little out of place from the teenagers who mostly filled the place. But at the same time, she liked the feeling of nostalgia the arcade evoked. She had come here a few times with her high school friends, and she'd enjoyed the atmosphere of the place, although she didn't play many games when she came because she always felt it was okay to just watch her friends. Still, the arcade was fun to Hyejin, and paired with the energising vibe of the whole place, she really liked it there. 

 

Chen was right. The arcade did cheer her up. 

 

Glancing around, she realised it had been a while since she left Chen at the claw machine. She couldn't help but find it a little amusing that he was trying so hard and having such high hopes of winning something. Her whole life, she had never won a single prize from claw machines — not even a small one. She knew the chance of actually getting something out of a claw machine was near to zero, especially if the people playing weren't experts. 

 

Hyejin fiddled with the controls of a nearby Tetris machine, enjoying the familiarity of the theme song in her ears. And then when she turned back around, her vision was blocked by a mint-green bear holding a heart dangling in front of her eyes — the same one she and Chen had seen in the claw machine. It suddenly disappeared, and in its place was none other than Chen's grinning face. The bear sat on his palm, its two bead eyes smiling at Hyejin. 

 

"And someone said I wouldn't be able to get it," Chen cockily grinned, then the bear in front of Hyejin again. "Guess who got the nicest bear in the entire machine. Your taste is horrible, this one is so much nicer than the cream one." 

 

"Did you bribe someone to catch it for you?" Hyejin joked. 

 

"Nope," Chen replied, then slowly slid the bear from his hand to hers. "This is for you." 

 

Hyejin the bear's furry body with one finger, then grabbed hold of Chen's hand again to return the bear. "You caught it. It's yours." 

 

He hid his hands behind his back, out of Hyejin's reach and chuckled. "The only reason I went to get it was because I wanted to give it to you. I — Wait… are you… blushing?" 

 

Chen tilted his head downwards to get a better look, but Hyejin covered her face with her hand and turned away. She was embarrassed she had actually blushed without even noticing. He was going to so much for that. She could already imagine his loud laughter, his jokes, his — 

 

"That's so cute. I'm so glad you like it." 

 

His… shy tone? 

 

Chen looked like he was blushing as well, and he had a small smile on his face that made him look a little like a kitten. Hyejin clutched the bear tighter in her hand, which he reached for and held in his own. 

 

Gently, he pried open her fingers. "Don't squeeze it like that, it'll get hurt." 

 

"I'm naming it Chen, after you," she blurted. That was the best way she could thank him at that time. But he scrunched his nose up instead. 

 

"Nah. I like being the only Chen in your life. Call the bear something else." 

 

Only Chen could make Hyejin laugh even when she felt her heart was going to explode (from how adorable he was being). "Fine," she said. "I'll name it Dawn, because you said 'Chen' in Chinese means dawn." 

 

"Dawn," Chen confirmed amusedly. 

 

"Dawn," Hyejin nodded, and he nodded back, chuckling. 

 

"Close your eyes, Jasmine."

 

She squinted at him playfully, but did anyway. Then, she felt something cool slide onto her wrist. She couldn't take her eyes off what she saw when she opened her eyes: on her wrist was a silver chain bracelet with small, delicate Jasmine flowers on them. 

 

Hyejin was a girly girl when she wanted to be. "Chen! You didn't have to," she said, lightly the detail of each flower using her other hand, then smiling. "I love it." 

 

"I love you too."  

 

"Hmm?" She hummed, still looking at her bracelet, and Chen knew she didn't catch what he said. But it was okay. 

 

"Nothing." 

 

Chen brought her hand closer to him, then clasped it in his, the back of her hand with his thumb. If Hyejin saw his face turning pink, she didn't say anything about it. After a while, he was the one who spoke first, because he wanted to see her wide grin again. 

 

A soft chuckle. "Happy birthday, Hwang Hyejin. I didn't forget." 

 

And then a big smile — the biggest Hyejin had ever smiled. 

 

_______________________________________

 

 

From the corner of her eye, Hyejin watched quizzically as Taehwan balled some thing into a messily wrapped gift, then after failing to find tape on his desk, held the wrapping together with a paper clip. Scooting over to Hyejin's desk with the gift (she had hurriedly went back to her work), he placed it on her table. 

 

"Yo, Hyejin. I'm sorry I forgot to wrap your gift," he grinned sheepishly. "I was too tired yesterday. Happy birthday, my deskie." 

 

Hyejin didn't mind. She was pleased, anyhow, that Taehwan had remembered too. "Nah, it's totally fine. Thank you," she grinned back, shaking the present in her hand. 

 

"Open it," he bubbled. 

 

Removing the paper clip revealed a small penguin doll with 'Happy Birthday' embroidered onto its little tummy. Hyejin couldn't help but giggle — she had received two little plush toys today, and both were absolutely soft and adorable. 

 

Setting her new buddy carefully beside Dawn, she beamed. "Thanks again, Taehwan. I really like it." 

 

"Yeah, guess you do — so much that you can't hear your phone ringing," Taehwan joked as he grabbed Hyejin's phone from her table before she could and read out the caller ID loud enough for both Chaeyoung and Jinkyung to look over. "A Joonmyeon guy is calling you. Is he your boyfriend or…?" 

 

"Shut up!" Hyejin shouted, flustered, and Taehwan shot her a playful glance, then tossed the phone over. 

 

"Whatever you say," he sung, then rolled his chair back to his desk. "He's the guy that you went for lunch with when we were in Yeouido for surveying, right?" 

 

"And so?" 

 

"It's of no doubt you two are dating?" He teased. 

 

"Go away!" Hyejin glared at Taehwan and threw a pencil at him, then answered the call surreptitiously. "Hey, Joonmyeon." 

 

"Hyejin! Happy birthday!" 

 

"Thanks," she chuckled, shielding and bending slightly. "So you called just to wish me?" 

 

"And also to ask you out for dinner. So, you free tonight? I'll give you a treat." 

 

"Sure. Hey, if you haven't planned anything, can we go to this food tent in Hongdae? I'm really craving some oyster pancakes and soju." 

 

"Okay! Soju and oyster pancakes sound good to me." 

 

"I'll text you the address. See you," she chirped. Thinking of oyster pancakes already made her hungry, and she let a smile stay on her face. Birthdays were kinda great. 

 

 

 

When work ended, she had leapt over to Chen's desk with the intention of telling him she couldn't go home with him that day, but before she could say anything, he stood up from his desk and headed away. 

 

"Copier machine," he explained after seeing a stunned Hyejin involuntarily rooted at his desk. His tone was uncharacteristically cold, and it shocked her. 

 

She rubbed her neck, muscles unfreezing enough for her to take slow steps towards him. "Oh, erm, I just wanted to tell you —" 

 

"I can't go home with you today. Busy. Work," he stated, back-facing her. It was as if Chen knew what exactly she was going to ask, but this telepathy didn't make her feel comfortable. 

 

"Is this a troll again?" She tried softly, giggling nervously. He didn't reply, and she abruptly stopped giggling. 

 

Hyejin felt something prick her somewhere. She wasn't the sort who could easily ignore it if she sensed someone was upset with her, but she also wasn't the sort to confront the person. So she mostly ran away from it until things cooled down, then tried again. 

 

But for some reason this hurt more than the other times. Maybe it was just because she forgot how it felt from not feeling it for a while, since she entered WS. But she had an inkling it wasn't because of that, and she didn't dare to do anything about it. 

 

"Oh," she said softly, then waited for Chen to say something, but when he didn't, she cleared . 

 

"I'll get going, then." Hyejin rigidly her heel to leave. He didn't respond. 

 

Suddenly meeting Joonmyeon didn't seem that exciting anymore. She just needed a drink to sort out her complicated feelings. 

 

 

__________________________________

 

 

Joonmyeon checked his reflection in his car's rear-view mirror before stepping out. He reckoned he looked quite good in his suit, especially since he had specially picked it out for Hyejin's birthday before he had gone to work that day. He thought she would've suggested places like restaurants to spend her birthday dinner at, but it turned out she had preferred to go to a food tent instead. Which left Joonmyeon feeling a little overdressed, but it was okay. 

 

He checked in his side pocket for the gift he had prepared to give Hyejin. It was still funny to think of her as his cousin, especially since his first significant memory of her was that at the blind date. But since things went this way already, he decided to pamper her like he would a little sister. Joonmyeon anticipated her reaction when he broke the news. 

 

It didn't take much searching to find Hyejin in the small food tent. Sitting down opposite her, Joonmyeon waved as a greeting, but he knew something was off from the way she looked.  

 

"Look who's here," Hyejin slurred, then grabbed the nearly empty soju glass in front of her and swiftly poured the remaining liquid into before smacking her lips. She chuckled and muttered to herself, then drew random shapes in the air with the dainty point of a finger. 

 

Joonmyeon sat himself down, then peered at her. "You're drunk, aren't you?" 

 

She nodded, then giggled to herself before flopping side to side. "I think so." 

 

Joonmyeon gaped, while reaching over to prevent strands of Hyejin's hair from drowning themselves in the small puddles of spilled soju that had formed. He had to admit, it surprised him to see her in this state. Man, he wasn't expecting her to drink before he arrived in the first place. "Gosh, Hyejin, how much exactly have you drunk already?" 

 

"More than you," she answered as she reached for a soju bottle (out of the many) that was in front of her, but Joonmyeon pulled it out of her hand, leaving her pouting. Her head bobbed downward, and then swayed to the side before landing straight onto the tabletop. 

 

With a quick shove of his arm, Joonmyeon brought the remaining bottles out of Hyejin's reach and stared straight at her. "Why are you drinking? Did something happen?" 

 

Hyejin got up and grinned cheekily at Joonmyeon, then gestured him to go closer. "Do I… need a reason to drink?" She whispered, then started to cackle loudly, attracting side-eyed glances from the other people in the tent. Joonmyeon clamped with his hand, embarrassed for both her and himself. 

 

"Okay, okay! You don't have to," he whispered back, then, hand still on , got up from his seat and went over to Hyejin. 

 

"I think we should have dinner another time. I need to tell you something but not when you're in this state," he smiled amusedly. "Come, I better get you somewhere safer." Joonmyeon heaved Hyejin upward and slung her arm around his shoulder for support. 

 

He staggered under her weight as he struggled to bring her to his car. Hyejin was singing an off-tune rendition of the 'Happy Birthday' song. At random points, she stopped and danced as they walked along the streets (or rather, tried to). Joonmyeon tried to hold her as steady as possible, but she kept losing her balance, swaying from side to side as she walked. 

 

He had never been more relieved to get into his car as he did that day. Using all his might, he reached out to open the passenger seat door and heaved Hyejin in. 

 

When he had driven off and Hyejin had stopped singing, Joonmyeon decided to ask her again why she'd been drinking. 

 

"Birthday. It's Hyejin's birthday today, that's why!" She chirped, then started belting out the 'Happy Birthday' song, and Joonmyeon hurriedly tried to get her to stop. "Any other reason? You wouldn't get yourself so drunk just because it's your… birthday, would you?" 

 

"As expected of Suho, eh? Kim Joonmyeon, model student of our university! You're smart," Hyejin garbled.  

 

"So there is another reason." 

 

"Stupid. Kim. Jong. Dae." 

 

"Kim Jongdae?" Joonmyeon asked. "Who's he?" 

 

"Some stupid troll with very nice bangs and a very cute smile." 

 

Joonmyeon nodded, waiting for Hyejin to add on, and she did. 

 

"He's so complicated! What! Being so nice to me in the morning, catching me a bear and getting me a bracelet, then being the coldest he's been in like a span of a few hours?" Hyejin exclaimed, frenzied. "Stupid. Kim Jongdaeeee!" 

 

"Your… boyfriend?" 

 

Hyejin didn't respond. Instead, she laughed drunkenly. After a while, she started to fiddle with her skirt. "Team leader, more like. My senior," she mumbled. 

 

The rest of the car ride was spent mostly in silence.  

 

 

_____________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Jongdae paced up and down the empty office. This was the most stressed he had been in ages. Because he didn't work until late the previous weeks to take the subway home with Hyejin, the amount of work he had was insane. Staring at the things he had to do made him a little petrified, even. 

 

He sighed. And then there was the Hyejin problem. Why'd she a boyfriend, but not bother to tell him? But then again, why should she have told him? It wasn't as if he needed, really, to know. A team leader needn't be concerned with his trainee's love lives. 

 

His eyes drifted to the bear on Hyejin's table that she had named Dawn. The truth was, he had actually bought the bear before bringing her to the arcade. It was just that he was way too shy to give a bear (with a heart!) to her, so he intentionally brought her to the arcade, in which he had seen some similar bears in a claw machine. And then he pretended to have caught it, although he would have never been able to in his life. 

 

Looking at the bear just made him sulkier then. Growling to himself, he hastily dialled Kyungsoo's number. 

 

"Yo, Jongdae." 

 

"Kyungsoo?" Jongdae called. "Can I rant about something?" 

 

Kyungsoo had paused for a millisecond, then continued in a gentler voice, "Go ahead." 

 

Jongdae sighed for the umpteenth time that day. How was he to put this across? Sitting back down at his desk, he found his eyes still glued onto Hyejin's desk. "You remember Hyejin?" 

 

"Of course I do," Kyungsoo assured. Jongdae swallowed. 

 

"Well... I think she has a boyfriend." Saying it out loud made it seem a hundred times more real, and it was a hundred times harder to accept. The words tasted too dry on his tongue, and it stuck onto, yet flowed out of his mouth like grainy sand. 

 

Kyungsoo gasped. "Really? How do you know?" Jongdae found himself narrating how Taehwan teased Hyejin on some guy she was meeting probably right then. 

 

"She even had lunch with him while I was at home resting because of the stupid accident," Jongdae groaned. 

 

"And so? You just let her go to dinner with that guy without clarifying anything?" 

 

"I... Got mad," Jongdae admitted. "Kyungsoo?" He called when there was no response from the other side of the line. 

 

"Kim Jongdae, let me just say something," Kyungsoo started. Jongdae nodded although he knew Kyungsoo wouldn't see it. 

 

"As much as I know where you're coming from," he said. "You're really way too petty sometimes." 

 

"You think?" Jongdae sighed, slumping down onto his table. 

 

"And you sure get jealous easily too. Bro, I would be more open-minded if I were you. Maybe she isn't even dating that guy in the first place," Kyungsoo continued. When Jongdae was the one who didn't respond this time, Kyungsoo spoke again. "Jong. You need someone there with you right now? I can ask if I can leave earlier from work —" 

 

"Nah," Jongdae said. "Thanks though, Kyungsoo. I'll hang up now. I think I need time to think." 

 

Placing his phone beside him, he slowly got up. His eyes glazed over the mounds of work he had, and he used his last ounce of energy to lift his hands to his keyboard and start typing again. This had to wait, he knew. He shouldn't be fretting over this when he had this much to do. Priorities, Jongdae. Priorities.