EXO had already planned a special birthday surprise for their precious STAR and they were very excited to see how Lyorin would react. Despite the rough start together, the guys were confident that Lyorin had grown attached to them as much as how they felt towards her. Thus, they were determined to give her the best birthday she could ever had.

It was a bright morning and everyone had the luxury to be in bed for as long as they wished since it was a no-school day. Thankfully, Lyorin’s birthday fell on the month of December when schools were closed for the holidays. Kai was the only one who didn’t sleep a wink the night before. He had been up all night preparing her present. He found a vacant room and settled in the whole night because he didn’t want to disturb the rest of his roommates. He was tired, exhausted and sleepy but the thought of seeing her reaction once she received the present was enough to drive him for many more sleepless nights. He was nervous whether she would love it. He had never made a present before. Usually, he would just buy and give it to someone. That was the first time he actually spent time and effort in making the perfect gift just for her. The clock showed that it was already 9 in the morning. He knew by then the guys would be up. He quickly finished up his gift before the guys searched for him. Finally, the end product came out better than expected and Kai was thoroughly proud and satisfied. He rushed to clear the mess that he made and teleport back to him room, with the gift in his hand as soon as possible.

Lyorin tossed and her bed, trying her best to get back to sleep. She knew it was already bright and sunny but she didn’t get a perfect sleep last night. She kept on waking up unnecessarily, having the same dream all over again. When she managed to sleep, the next hour she would wake up again.

Soon enough, she heard knockings on her door. She went under the blanket, covering her entire body and pretending to be asleep. She didn’t want to wake up, especially when she only had less than 2 hours of sleep. She hoped that the boys would get the message but no, the knocks continued and even became louder.

 Finally, she heard their calls. “Lyorin-ah, wake up!”, “Why are you still in bed? It’s already nearly 10AM?” It was only 10AM, she scolded silently. She didn’t move an inch, pretending to be asleep but the boys didn’t seem to give up. Almost all of them were in her room which was weird because usually only one of them would wake her up, not ALL. She could feel the movements on the bed and knew that some of them were sitting on it.

 “Lyorin-ah, wake up.” Luhan said while tapping her blanket gently. Lyorin groaned and refused to uncover herself. “You can’t possibly be in bed the entire day, right? Come on, we have so many things to do today!” He exclaimed gleefully. The rest of the guys cheered along as well.

Lyorin finally sat up and glared furiously at them. She was in a rather foul mood from the lack of sleep and it didn’t help that the boys insisted that she should wake up. “What do you guys want?” She muttered, with her eyes shut. “Can you leave me alone? I’m tired.” She pleaded.

“Come on, lazy bum. You’re not going to sleep anymore.” Tao moved closer and playfully slapped her cheeks, but she still had her eyes closed and was looking down.

“Wow, someone is grouchy on her birthday.” Chen commented after seeing her lacklustre and tired face.

Finally opening her eyes, Lyorin saw the boys staring at her. She wanted to scold the boys but after hearing Chen, she tilted her head in confusion. “It’s my, what? What is the date today?” She asked with a frown.

“It’s 11 of December, meaning someone is turning old today.” Chanyeol took a pillow and threw right at her face. He expected her to get angry which would eventually wake her up. However, the pillow hit her face and surprisingly, she didn’t even flinch or attempt to avoid. Instead, her head hung low even after the hit.

“Chanyeol!” Kris scolded.

Sensing something was not right, the boys turned worried. In an instant, Lay came closer to her, touched her forehead for any sign of fever and examined her pulse by holding her wrist. He lifted up her chin to have a better view of her face and that was when he noticed her tired eyes and pale face. “Yah! What’s wrong with you?” Lay asked panicky.

“Oh my God, Lyorin I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to throw the pillow at you. I didn’t know –“ Chanyeol apologised. He felt guilty. In fact, all of them felt guilty for barging into the room and waking her up when she could still be resting.

“I’m sleepy and tired but I’m fine.” Lyorin mumbled, cutting his apology.

“Why? Having nightmares again?” Suho asked while her cheeks tenderly. Lyorin nodded. “The same one?” He asked, and she nodded again. “How long has this been?”

“Almost every night for the past two weeks.” Lyorin replied.

Kai who happened to be watching all this while decided to take control. He didn’t mind cancelling the whole event that they guys had already planned for her. Yes, they spent quite a bit on it but money was the last thing in his mind right now. He grabbed the blanket and gestured for her to lie down and sleep. “Go back and sleep. You need it.” He patted the bed but Lyorin pushed away.

“It’s okay, I’m already up now.” She said. She was sleepy, but it wasn’t like she could sleep anyways. Since she was already awake, might as well she continued her day normally.

“No, you can go back to sleep.” Luhan pushed her down but Lyorin refused.

Feeling slightly annoyed, she snapped, “YAH! So, do you want me to wake up or sleep? It’s my birthday; can I at least have some say on what I want to do or can do?”

“Okay okay. Since you’re up, go and shower. We’re going out today!” Tao gladly pulled her arm and brought her to the bathroom.

------

After bathing and getting all ready for the event for the day, Lyorin made her way down towards the dining room. She was greeted with a variety of dishes and beverages. It was only breakfast yet there were buffet of food enough for the whole day. She looked at Aunt weirdly.

Noticed her arrival, Aunt came closer to Lyorin and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. Here, my gift. Hope you like it.” She smiled and handed a small box wrapped in a nice yellow paper.

Lyorin smiled sweetly in returned and took the gift from her hand. “Thanks Aunt, you shouldn’t have. Can I open it now?” Aunt Marie nodded before laying the plates on the table. The guys eventually joined them as well, all dressed up. Ignoring their presence, she quickly unwrap gift and found a small teddy bear with her initials on it and ‘18’ imprinted on its tummy. She loved it. It was adorable and the bear looked like her, with clothes on that looked like running attire. The guys gathered and looked at the gift. Seeing the smile on her face despite a simple gift was enough to assure them that their gifts for her would be well appreciated as well.

Finally they settled down for breakfast. Lyorin scanned the array of food presented and gulped. She was hungry for sure. While placing the last remaining dishes on the table, Aunt said, “Lyorin, you have to try everything because I’m not the one who prepared this.”

“Eh? Who prepared all these?” Lyorin asked slightly puzzled.

D.O with his signature wide eyes came forward grinning happily at Lyorin. “I did!” He exclaimed proudly. He then placed the food on her plate and gestured for her to try. The rest of the guys began to dig in whereas D.O waited for Lyorin to taste it first. “How is it?” He asked, with a tinge of worry.

Lyorin could not even answer. was full and all she wanted to do is to eat more. It was definitely very delicious. After chewing and swallowing the food, she replied brightly, “D.O OPPA! THIS IS THE BEST! You prepared all this on your own?!” She asked and D.O nodded shyly. “Wow, it’s delicious. I didn’t know you can cook so well. I’m really amazed. Thank you!” She got up from her chair, walked towards him and gave him a tight hug. He was surprised by her action, turning him all red.

Slowly, he held her waist and patted her back. “I’m glad you love it. Eat more alright.”

Aunt, who had been watching the scene, , “So Lyorin, looks like you won’t need me around now. I can leave you with them already.” She chuckled.

“Aish Aunt, why are you being like this?” Lyorin pouted.

“You can ask your D.O oppa to cook already since his is the best.” She further . She wasn’t upset in fact she was happy Lyorin finally gotten closer with the boys.

“Aunt, don’t say such things will you?” Lyorin got to her seat and continued eating.

“I’m sorry okay. I was just playing around.” Aunt ruffled her Lyorin’s hair playfully.

Breakfast done, EXO and Lyorin gathered at the living room. For the first time, she was actually glad to be spending her birthday with EXO. She was hoping Yoona could join too, but sadly she had dance practise and could only meet up with her tomorrow. She wasn’t the only one feeling sad, Luhan was too. Oh well, at least she would get to meet her tomorrow. Anyways, she was curious as to where the guys were bringing her.

“Ready?” Chanyeol asked with a cheeky grin.

“Yes. Where are we going?” Lyorin asked.

“It’s a surprise.” Sehun placed his arm around her shoulder and dragged her out to where the cars were. As usual they obviously needed more than a car to travel.

Lyorin was still curious so she decided to ask Sehun with a whisper. “Shhh Sehun, where are we going?”

Sehun shook his head and kept quiet. She tugged his shirt but he still refused to spill it. She then moved towards Suho and asked him, hoping at least the nice leader would give her a hint. “Suho oppa, where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He answered with a laugh.

Lyorin was even more curious. She loved surprises but she was dying from the curiosity. With a sigh, she stomped towards Xiumin, the next target. Xiumin, the oldest among them was by far the most easily persuaded. Lyorin tried her chance and asked him with a cute voice, “Xiumin oppa, you’re the nicest of them all. Can you please tell me where we are going? At least give me a hint, please?”

Xiumin looked like he was about to falter and spill the beans but the rest of the boys quickly protested and glared at him. “Aish Lyorin ah, you’re making things difficult for me. You’re cute but I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.” He apologised and pinched her cheeks.

 Lyorin finally gave up on asking.

The car stopped and she looked outside the window. She looked at the place they were at in disbelief. Quickly, she climbed out of the car full of joy and excitement.

“We’re going here?!” She squealed like a kid. EXO guys smiled at her candid reaction knowing half of their surprise was working perfectly. 

To be continued...