As I read the message, I look up the clock to see that its exactly midnight. Before I can reply back, the room suddenly turned dark and when I whipped around to try to find the light switch, I see Nayeon holding a lit up cake and the members behind her started singing Happy Birthday! 

"Make a wish unnie!!!!!" Screamed Dahyun, and I closed my eyes to make a simple wish. 

-I wish everyone around me will continue to be Happy and Healthy. -

and before I blew the candles,

I added one more wish:

-I hope Mr. Unknown wouldn't end up hurting me. -

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even though the company gave me some time off for my birthday, February was just such a busy and important month for us that I couldn’t fully rest even on my days off. Not only did we have our first major concert in a few days, we also have a korean comeback and a japanese debut to prepare for. Every moment I got for myself was dedicated to brushing up on my Japanese, or practicing one of the many performances we have in the next few weeks. 

"How do you keep yourself sane from all this schedule??" Jungyeon randomly asks while we were doing some yoga moves in our dorm. 

I take a deep breath and slowly move into the next position before answering her. 

"I just take it one step at a time" I said as calmly as possible, and hopefully masking my own anxiety that was bubbling underneath. 

I had a feeling I didn’t sound convincing enough though, because the next thing she said was,“If there’s anything we can help with, let us know okay?”.

 I gave her my usual grin, as we both moved on to the next position. I think about how fortunate I was to have my girls with me in this journey. Even though I am the leader of the group, the girls try their best to shoulder some of the responsibility and after almost 2 years together, we have gotten used to the roles in our group. 

Being the leader, I work with the management team the most. In the beginning it was just me,  but these days, Jungyeon and Sana would come along for the meetings. We then discuss the meeting with the group and we distribute the roles we have for each comeback. 

Since the maknae trio is still in Highschool, we let them focus on schoolwork and in return they take turns with washing the dishes when they can. 

Jungyeon is in charge of keeping our dorm room organized by keeping us accountable in our own spaces and keeping track of things that need to be done or bought for the dorm. Since she’s also the most responsible one with money, she manages our joint account; where a percentage of our earnings get deposited and is used specifically for things we need in the dorm and group bonding activities. 

Since Momo and Mina are the most technically trained dancers in our group, they are usually the ones working the choreographer for each comeback and performances. They also usually come up with the most ideas regarding special performances for music shows and concert tours. 

Even though we are idols, our group is surprisingly composed of a bunch of introverts and homebodies. So we rely on Nayeon and Sana - our friendliest members, to mingle and network with the other idols. Because of those two, we ended up being friends with most of the girl group (and some boy group) members in our industry, which benefited not only our sparse social life, but allowed us to learn from some of the most talented idols in the industry. 

As we reach our final resting pose, my thoughts are interrupted by a sudden vibration coming from my phone. I couldn’t help but smile as I reach out to grab it. 

Hey good work again today, 

and good luck with your first major concert! 

I’m really excited for you. 

Remember to eat and rest well okay. 

Good night, Jihyo. 

Oh yeah, who ever my secret admirer/ penpal is, he’s been quite the source strength for me these days.

Ever since my birthday we have been texting each other non stop. Sometimes just exchanging daily pleasantries, and some other days we get in too deep and talk about our hopes, our dreams and even our anxieties. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been more open to him than I have been to most of my members. 

Thanks again. 

I just had salmon for supper, how about you?

And did the two of your members make up from your fight already?

Don’t worry about them too much,

They should be able to figure it out themselves. 

Since I don’t know your schedule too well, I hope you’re getting plenty of rests. 

I can’t help but frown a bit as I send my reply back to him. Although I knew a lot about his dreams and even his fears, he has not given me any hints regarding his identity. All I know was that there should be at least 5 other members in the group because he’s talked about at least  5 of them to me. He refuses to tell me how many members they have in total because apparently it will give them away quite easily. 

I also know that he seems to be as busy as us, or even busier since we mostly text late at night and almost never during the weekend when it is usually the busiest time for idols.He also seems to be travelling a lot since he likes to sometimes torture me with food pics at random hours of the night to show me what he’s been eating. These days, he seems to be eating a lot of Japanese food. 

I wonder if he’s currently in Japan. 

“Hey Nayeon-unnie! Do you know of any groups that have a schedule in Japan right now?” She looks up from her phone and shoots me a mischievous look. 

“I know quite a few, why? Is this about mr. Unknown?” she says with a gleam in her eye. I give her a smile back, and she instantly goes on research mode. 

“I don’t understand why he just doesn’t go right out and say it! He’s been texting you for more than a month now!!” she says with a hint of annoyance in her voice. After a few minutes she just gives up. 

“Other than us and few other girl groups, there really isn’t anyone doing a japanese debut or comeback this month. Maybe he’s just there for vacation? Or maybe shooting a music video?” says Nayeon as she falls back on the couch. “And you can’t really base the location on the food, since you can get japanese food pretty much everywhere now!” she adds. 

I guess it’s not really meant to be right now. I wonder what he would say if I ask. But before I can text him back, I see that he’s sent a reply already. 

Ya, they did. 

I can’t believe how stupid their fight was. 

They are just too stubborn for their own good.

Good thing our leader managed to knock some sense out of them. 

I also had Salmon today for supper! 

We’re practically soulmates ;P

I can’t help but smile at his corny jokes. After talking to him for almost every day for the past month, he’s definitely the kind that likes to joke around. 

-Oh wait-

 And seems like he’s also definitely not the leader of the group! I should probably confirm this. 

So you’re not the leader of the group, huh? 

Which reminds me, you did ask what I wanted for my birthday. 

Can I ask for a few hints on your identity?

It’s unfair that you know so much about me… 

---

It’s been a whole 30 minutes since my last message and he has not replied back. At this time, the girls and I were completely done with our short yoga session and while the maknae trio head quickly to their bedrooms, the rest of the girls and I stayed behind to chat a bit more before we head to bed. 

“Has he replied yet?!!?” asks Sana. She’s a bit worried because she’s the one who pointed out how unfair it was that everything about this penpal-ship seems so one sided. 

“Stop asking Sana! You're gonna worry her. Relax Jihyo, He might just be busy”. Says Momo while she watches our dance rehearsal video for the 10th time that night. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to ask Jinyoung oppa? Or even Yugyeom! That boy knows way too much.” Says Nayeon who is back on the phone and seemingly chatting with her boyfriend as we speak. 

“Don’t you dare Im Nayeon!!” I said quickly. “Don’t you guys remember the JB fiasco? It’s a miracle I still talk to those three idiots.” The three idiots being, Yugyeom, Bambam and Chris. 

“I was kidding! And of course I remember! Jungyeon and I helped with the whooping.” She says as she high fives Jungyeon. 

I rolled my eyes, but before I could retort back, I felt a sudden vibration in my hand. The girls hear the vibration as well, and they stopped whatever they were doing to look at me and the phone in my hands. 

Okay. You’re totally right. 

Since it was your birthday, I’ll give you two Major hints. 

1. I’m not from JYPE

2. But we’ve worked together before. 

I hope those two hints will be enough for now. 

I know for a fact that twice has not worked with a lot of boy groups yet

;)

Good night Jihyo.

I'm so sorry for such a late post. I'll try to post more now that I have my laptop back. 

I'm working on two other fics right now. One is Mina centred #getwellsoonmina

I will probably work on that next before releasing the next chapter of this fic. 

I didnt want to give away too big of a hint because I want to keep up the mystery for a few more chapters =p 

Do you guys have any guesses?