Once she reached the lobby of her building, she took off her heels to prepare herself for the walk up three flights of stairs. She tried to get ahold of Dara and Youngbae, but received no response from either, leaving her to cab it home. With no cash on her, the taxi driver had to stop at the ATM for her. As she trudged through the narrow hallway, she noticed a hair tie on the doorknob. When she came closer, she saw an envelope from her Rilakkuma stationery with her name on it.

The quickly scribbled letter told her in polite terms that Dara and Youngbae were making love for the first time and that by the time she gets home it should be safe for her to come in. However, by the sounds of furniture moving that she could hear through the door, the couple was currently doing something in the living room. She prayed that her grandmother's quilt that they kept on the sofa was still clean.

Chaerin had two options - bust in on them and ruin their night, so she can sleep in the comfort of her own bed and forget tonight ever happened, or wait outside in the hallway for them to finish up. She pounded her head lightly against the door before giving up and sitting on the floor. She spread out her legs in front of her and closed her tired eyes. This shouldn't take long. She had questioned Youngbae's stamina from the beginning.

"Chaerin," the soft voice called out. She loved that voice whenever it appeared in her dreams. Chaerin moaned in her sleep eagerly waiting for the man of her dreams to say more. She mumbled, "Jingyo."

Feeling a gentle poke on her leg, she was brought out of her reverie. She rubbed her eyes long forgetting the evening's eyeliner and false lashes, then wiped the drool off the the corner of her lip. She opened her eyes wide when she heard the familiar laughter. "," she whispered to herself. Kwon Jiyong really was here and sitting across from her in the hallway.

His smile widened when he heard her swear to herself. Chaerin, who had her stocking covered legs spread out in a v, looked away from him as she tried not to make eye contact. Despite her smeared makeup, he thought she looked even lovelier than she had before the party.

Sitting opposite her with his legs crossed at the ankles, he pulled her feet on to his lap. She could never resist any physical contact from him.

"What time is it?" she asked as she stifled a yawn quickly getting over her embarrassment once he touched her.

"1:30am."

She looked at him with slightly open in surprise. "I felt like I was out longer than twenty minutes. What are you doing back so early?"

His thumbs started to knead the bottoms of her tired feet. The price to pay for fashionable shoes. "I found out you got thrown out. I knew Dara and Youngbae had left earlier. I told them I would keep an eye on you."

Her high hopes faltered assuming that Jiyong was only there because someone asked him to babysit her. Defensively she said, "I wasn't thrown out. I was escorted out."

He smiled at her pouting and continued to massage her feet, causing Chaerin's pout to fade into a small contented smile. 

"Are you alone?" she asked tentatively. Her eyes searched both ends of the hallway and looked at his apartment door, wondering where his date was hiding.

His eyes showed a hint of confusion. "What kind of question is that?"

She played nervously with her hair. "It's your birthday. You know? You should be going crazy and having birthday ." She tried to play it off with a laugh.

Jiyong shook his head. "I usually spend my birthday with family. And who knows about the last part? The night is still young." He winked.

"Oh," she frowned. She didn't want him to leave her now since he knew she got home safely.

Chaerin whimpered at the loss of contact when he removed her feet from his lap. He kneeled up and offered his hand to help her get up. As if reading her mind, he said, "I'm not going anywhere. Let's go into my apartment. I don't think it's safe for you to go in there yet."

She readily accepted his hand and held on not wanting to let go.

While inside, she occupied the couch as he brought over two hot cups of tea. Leaning on her elbow on the armrest she admired the way he navigated around his home.

"I'm sorry you had to leave your party early for me."

He shrugged before taking a seat on the middle cushion right next to her. She could feel the inviting warmth from his body. "I wasn't having fun without you."

Chaerin rolled her eyes. She found it hard to believe him. "All of your friends were there."

"They're not who I wanted to spend time with. And anyway, most of them were looking out to get laid. That's why Hyunseung volunteered himself to plan everything." Looking away from her, deep in thought, he mumbled, "Puking on your birthday is less fun when you're older."

She leaned closer to him as he spoke, noticing something was on his mind. "Are you going through some mid-twenties crisis right now?"

"No," he rested his arm around her shoulders. "It's hitting me that I'm finally a real adult now. And all the adult things that go along with it. I'm finding out what's really important," said Jiyong sincerely while looking into her eyes. Chaerin's heartbeat raced hoping she had a place with him in his adult world. It was hard for her not to be caught up in the fantasy of it all when she was experiences bits and pieces of it in her reality.

They continued to talk about adulthood, hopes, and dreams. For such serious adult talk, she felt like she was reacting like a junior high girl who was talking to her crush. From what he was saying, it seemed like what happened back at the club wasn't a mistake. That he really had been putting the moves on her and not for the sake of a one night stand. She wanted to believe she could be part of his plan for the future

The conversation turned to lighter fair as they played a game of this or that.

"Dogs or cats?" he asked.

"Neither."

"You can't say neither."

Chaerin playfully stuck out her tongue. "I just did. I pick porcupines."

"I'll let you have that one."

"Oh honey, I won't let you let me have anything." Her nose crinkled at her awkward phrasing. He laughed at her so hard his eyes teared up. She held Jiyong's hands to get him to calm down as she was embarrassed.

"Ok. Ok." Jiyong regained his composure, but didn't let go of her hands. 

Taking her turn, she asked, "Kids or no kids?"

"Kids. Definitely kids."

"Me too."

"Frozen yogurt or ice cream?"

"Ice cream. Pie or cake?"

"Cake."

She asked, "Did you have any birthday cake today?"

"No, and it's not my birthday anymore."

"Nope. It's the weekend, so it's your birthday all weekend. Why no cake? It's not a birthday without cake."

Jiyong shrugged. "It'd be sad if I bought myself a cake."

She tsked. "Hyunseung should've taken care of that. Next year, I'll plan your birthday."

"Ok. I'll hold you to that." He placed his hand on her thigh. Chaerin felt herself heat up, but she also felt something on the inside. She felt tingly at the promise of another year together doing something similar to the moment they were sharing right now.

Then Chaerin had a brilliant idea. "Let me bake you a cake right now." She got up excitedly and headed to the kitchen.

Jiyong followed after her like a lost puppy needing to be near her. "I didn't know you bake. I know Dara bakes."

Chaerin laughed loudly. "Yeah, those cookies she gives to Bae every week. I make them."

He laughed along with her. "He doesn't even eat the cookies. He's watching his weight. I eat the cookies. And they're delicious."

"Thank you," she said proudly as she perused the cupboards.

"I came here to tell you they're empty," he said sheepishly as he sidled up next to her.

Chaerin frowned when she opened the refrigerator to find an egg. She looked at Jiyong for an explanation.

"That's Youngbae's breakfast later," said Jiyong while pointing at the lone egg.

"Boys will be boys. It's too late to go to the store, but I have some ingredients at my place."

He pleaded, "You don't have to do this."

"But I want to. As a birthday present."

Chaerin led the way out the apartment. She dangled her keys in front of him. "Do you think they're done?"

He grabbed the keys from her, then unlocked the door. "Let's find out. We'll be quick."

The door creaked excruciatingly slowly as they pushed it open. They looked at each other before quickly shuffling to the kitchen. "I don't hear anything," he whispered as he crouched down behind the counter. Chaerin raced around the kitchen gathering all the ingredients in the cabinets in a large mixing bowl.

"Dara!" They heard Youngbae cry out.

"Oh my god. No, no, no. I don't want to hear this." She dropped the ingredients and crouched down with Jiyong. She covered her ears. He put his hands over her hands to assist her. It's one thing to know something is happening, but to witness or hear it is another.

"Shh, they'll hear us," he tried to calm her down.

Another moan was heard from the bedroom.

"No! Now, I can hear them!" He complained. Chaerin took her hands out from under his and covered his ears. They held each other's faces close to their own. Their breaths mingled and increased. Their prior awkward situation calmed down giving way to this new one. They had been this close at the club before they had been interrupted. It would be so easy to resume where they left off right now.

"I just need to grab the milk and eggs," she whispered, physically unable to back away from him out of desire.

"Ok," he nodded and let her go, but not without kissing her forehead first, holding a promise for more.

Chaerin opened the refrigerator slowly and grabbed the carton of eggs, butter, and milk. She put them inside the mixing bowl, which rattled the whisk and metal pan. She frowned at the noise that it made, but Jiyong insisted she keep going.

"Did you hear something?" Youngbae's muffled voice could be heard asking.

Chaerin and Jiyong quickly grabbed the things they needed and sped out of the apartment when they heard Dara's bedroom doorknob turn.

Jiyong admired the view of Chaerin standing in his kitchen mixing a bowl in a crop top, high waisted skirt, and thigh high stockings. She her lips in concentration as she mixed the cake mixture by hand. Of course, the guys didn't have a standing mixture, so she had to mix it by hand. However, she didn't mind Jiyong staring at her. His gaze made her feel wanted and the way he looked at her - she knew he didn't see her as just a friend anymore. She didn't know when that changed for him, but she was delighted in how things had progressed tonight. He had been sweet and gentlemanly all evening.

As they waited for the cake to finish baking, they stood around the kitchen casually in comfortable silence. Each enjoying the companionship for the evening.

When she took the cake out to cool, she started working on the frosting.

"Hey you," she said to him.

"Hey," he said in return and stood next to her, resting his elbows on the counter. She noticed him staring at the bowl intently. The bowl right in front of her s. Chaerin pushed the bowl towards him. He raised an eyebrow.

"My arms are tired. I'm doing all the work," she pouted cutely.

He gladly resumed the stirring duties, but still said, "But it's your gift to me."

"Isn't it nice doing something together though?" Her eyes twinkled.

"It is," he smiled back.

She turned around to pop the cake out of the pan to get it ready for icing. When she turned back around, she caught Jiyong the chocolate off the spatula. At her glare, he dropped the spatula, into the bowl creating a small splash of chocolate frosting getting on his white shirt.

Chaerin's eyes widened, but she quickly tried to get his shirt off to save it from being stained permanently.

Pleased to have Chaerin's hands on him, Jiyong let her the shirt and pull it off him. She mumbled about soda water and took it to the sink. He admired the view when she bent down to look for cleaning supplies under the sink. When she stood back up to tend to the stain, Jiyong sighed and resumed frosting.

With the stain gone, Chaerin laid the shirt on the sink to let the spot dry. She turned around to find Jiyong messily frosting the cake and getting chocolate everywhere. However, instead of ing at him about his cake decorating technique, her eyes focused on his biceps and back muscles. She her lips wanting a taste of his body more than the cake.

She approached him from behind and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Is it ready?" she asked.

Jiyong eyed his handiwork. "I think so?" He put the spatula down and held her hands to his body not letting her break the hug.

"Do you have any candles?"

"I can check the bathroom?"

"Ew," she broke the hug. Thoroughly searching through the drawers, she found a wooden chopstick leftover from takeout.

She the gas stove and lit it on fire. She quickly brought it over to him while singing the happy birthday song to him. Chaerin hopped in place as she forced herself to finish the song quickly in order for him to blow out the makeshift candle. Jiyong, who had the biggest smile on his face throughout the song, blew out the flaming stick. Chaerin dropped the smoking piece of wood onto the counter before it could burn her fingers. While she was shaking her hot fingers, Jiyong grabbed ahold of them and pulled them towards his lips. He blew cool air on them to make them feel better. They maintained eye contact as he kept blowing on her fingers, creating the gentlest yet arousing sensation.

"Did I make it better?"

Chaerin could only nod. He gently let go of her hand causing her to frown. 

Returning their attention back to the cake, she cut one big piece of cake for them to share. They took the plate and a bottle of leftover champagne from earlier with them to the living room.

"This is so good," he said with a moutful of cake after she fed him a piece from her own fork. He took a much bigger piece with his own fork to stuff his mouth with.

"Thanks." Then she asked, "What did you wish for?"

Concentrated on eating, he said, "Nothing."

"Nothing?" She was perplexed. She went through all of that to give him the perfect birthday experience and in the end he wished for nothing. She could have lost her fingers.

He took the plate from her lap and placed it on the coffee table. Taking her cute chubby hands into his, he said, "I didn't need to wish for anything. You're with me now. That's what I would have wished for. To spend the night and however as long as you'd want me." Jiyong leaned down and finally kissed Chaerin's lips. Her eyes closed as sight was no longer a necessary sense for she felt him so vividly through the single kiss. After so many close encounters, it was perfect because it came with an unexpected confession. The sweet kiss tasted of chocolate. Chaerin deepened the kiss herself wanting to discover Jiyong's own personal taste, to memorize it and find out if it held up to her dreams. It was even better. She broke the kiss to regain her breath.

Leaning her forehead on his, Chaerin felt Jiyong gulping for air as she had taken his breath away. She asked, "How? I mean. I've liked you for so long, but why now? Why tonight?"

"I've liked you, too. You've just never noticed it. You're shy, but I like that."

"How's this for being shy?"

"Huh?" He asked when she backed away.

She reached over for the remaining cake and smushed it into the side of his face.

"Ah. You play dirty."

"Baby, you have no idea." She crawled onto his lap and the cake off the side of his face, pressing her s against him. He moaned as she took control. 

"Ok, Chaerin, don't jump him," she said to herself before she continued kissing him.

"Chae," he said after kissing her neck. "I can hear you." He smiled into her neck.

"." 

A/N: I hope someone out there likes it. I'm not satisfied with it; I'll do better next time. Thanks for reading and subscribing especially when you didn't need to.