Despite Henry's best efforts to eat all of the batter, I eventually had the cake completely finished, frosted, and stowed away in the very back of the refrigerator, and carefully guarded it so that the wrong person wouldn't find it. 

Of course, the first thing I'd had to do was to stop Wookie from making breakfast, not mentioning that it was his birthday, but insisting that it was supposed to be my job, and I could do it myself.

I was fretting a lot about it, double-checking, triple-checking everything. Manager Kim assured me he would make sure that none of the programs they were on that day would give Ryeowook his birthday meal. I asked Eunhyuk to make sure none of Ryeowook's friends were going to give it to him, either. I had everything perfectly planned out. I had the seaweed soup made (With a bit of help from Min Hee on what exactly it entailed), and had Wookie's schedule for that day memorized. All was to make sure that his birthday could be safely celebrated at the dorm, and could be fully appreciated. If someone else gave him seaweed soup and a birthday cake, it would ruin the joy of it. Not to mention that I had spent hours in the kitchen making it, mostly by myself. I wanted it to be special.

I checked my watch. Their filming for Star King would end in about five minutes. That meant about twenty minutes left to finish getting ready. But I had to rely on Shindong to hold his end of the bargain, and convince Wookie to stay at the company so the rest of the members could come back to the dorm and get their gifts out. 

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and paused in stirring the seaweed soup to look at it. 

"Ryeowook's in the practice room, rehearsing stuff. We'll be back in a few minutes." I read Donghae's message out loud to myself, then slid my phone back into my pocket.

Soon enough, members were spilling into the dorm, the shoes piling up in the doorway.

"You guys, if you leave your shoes there, he's going to notice right away! Wasn't the plan to pretend you forgot all about it?"

"Oh, right." Donghae went back and grabbed his shoes. "Though I think we should just forget about it, since NOBODY remembered MY birthday!" He yelled pointedly, slightly bitterly.

Eunhyuk groaned. "Donghae, are you still mad about that?!"

"Yes! You all totally forgot about me!"

I shook my head, then started to push Donghae out of the doorway. "Get over it, Fishy! If you ruin this surprise, I'm going to get SO mad!"

"Uh-oh. Shutting up!"

I brushed flour off of my jeans, the straightened up. "Okay, I'm going to go get him. Does everyone know where they're hiding?"

"I call the kitchen!" Henry yelled, taking off.

"KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF MY CAKE!" I screeched, loud enough that he jumped, and tripped, falling over with a thud. Of course, all of the members found this quite funny, Heechul even doubled over.

"I wasn't going to!" Henry yelled back, sitting up from his fall.

"Like Hell you weren't. I saw that expression."

"Minsung-ah," Eunhyuk interrupted, "weren't you going somewhere?"

"Oh. Yeah, right. Okay, I'll be back in a little while. Sungmin-oppa, you're in charge of bringing the cake out when I get back, like we planned?"

"I got it! Henry, that means I get the kitchen."

"What?! That's not fair!"

"Okay, okay, you can bring out the seaweed soup," I allowed, sighing. "Everyone else, you're on your own. I'm not exactly in the position to be giving orders, being so young and all. But I do hope you'll help me with this."

"You know, she didn't plan anything like this for my birthday," Kyuhyun blurted, and Kangin and Zhou Mi agreed.

"I wasn't your housekeeper back then!" I argued, "now seriously, I'm leaving!"

I put my shoes on and stomped out the door. 

I hummed a bit to myself as i walked through the company, waving to people I knew, bowing to my superiors as they passed, taking everything with a grain of salt, because I was actually in a fairly good mood. So far, despite Henry's trip, everything was going as planned.

I wasn't entirely sure why I wanted everything to be perfect for Ryeowook's birthday so badly. I guess it was just that he'd always been so kind to me, and had been there to comfort me when I was confused or nervous. I wanted to pay him back. 

I found the practice room door, and took a deep breath. Alright, here goes...

I looked through the door window before I turned the handle, and noticed that he wasn't actually practicing anything, just leaning against the wall, looking at something in his hands.

I turned the knob quietly, sneaking into the room. He seemed so focused on what he was doing, he didn't even seem to notice I'd entered. Maybe I could succeed in scaring him!

As I got closer, I saw that the thing he was concentrating so hard on was, in fact, a keychain, with a name on it. But a I got closer to try to read it, he looked up, started, and jammed it back into his pocket.

"Minsung! Why are you--?"

"Everyone else came to the dorm, the left right away to go hang out with friends, but you didn't come at all. I started to get worried." I was hoping he would fall for my flimsy lie that they all suddenly ditched him. Fortunately, he was just thick-headed enough for it to just make him look hurt, like he totally believed me. Which, of course, made me feel terrible.

"Oh... sorry. I just wanted to practice a little."

"Was that a gift from a friend?" I asked, calling him out for not actually being in the process of practicing anything.

"...Can you keep a secret?"

"For my oppas, always," I replied without a moment's thought, yet I felt a strange sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"It's actually from my girlfriend. You know, a birthday present." He looked at me, as if waiting for a reaction. "It feels like she's the only one who remembered my birthday."

My girlfriend. The words stung, and suddenly I realized that Min Hee had been right. All this time, even as I tried to give them their privacy, and to not bother them, and to let them trust me... All this time I'd been hoping for just a bit more, though I had never let myself notice it.

My hands curled into fists, my fingernails digging into my palms as I buried any hurt I had. "I-- Well, of course she's not the only one who remembered your birthday! There are a whole bunch of people out there who have your birthday saved on their phones, because the day is so important to them!" Like me.

He was quiet for a long time, making the silence stand out to me. I felt like I had to say something, so I patted him on the arm and said, "I'm happy for you, Oppa. I hope your relationship lasts a long time." I was surprised at how much I meant it. Shouldn't I have been jealous of that girl? I should have, but I wasn't. Because my oppa being happy was more important.

"Thank you, Minsung," he smiled genuinely, and any hope I'd gained from every time he had taken my hand, or let me hug him, died out the instant I knew that he was just being kind. Because that was the way he was.

"Okay, so are we going home now?" I asked, holding out my hand to help him up.

"Sure! Just don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want her to get in trouble."

"I swear on my status as ELF Queen, I will tell your secret to no one." I helped him up to his feet, then considered it. "But... can I tell Min Hee?" This was an event I would need my roommate's advice on, and her emotonal support, because I was probably going to have a breakdown as soon as I got back to my own dorm, after the party. I anticipated lots of crying, and tissues, and back-rubbing, and sobbing, and general nonsense to make me feel better.

But that would have to wait, because for now, I needed to have my Oppa know that I would be strong and stand by him, even if it hurt, just a little. So I put on my best ELF Queen smile, and acted like I usually did around him, which was flamboyant and energetic.

He laughed, starting to walk out the door, and I ran after him. "No, seriously, Oppa, can I tell Min Hee?!"

Just as planned, when I got to the bottom of the building, I pulled out my phone and sent Kyuhyun a blank text, that signaled we were there. The text was blank so that way if Wookie asked me what I was doing, I could just say that I was checking to see if anyone had called, because the sending of the text would be done that quickly.

When we got out of the elevator onto the eleventh floor, there was a sudden crash from the direction of the dorm, making Ryeowook jump.

"What was that?!"

"i don't know. Someone from one of the other apartments probably just fell against the wall or something." Although the image that came to mind was someone diving behind something as they realized how close we were to entering.

"I guess so. Where did you say they all went?"

"Who?"

"The members." Oh shoot, was he onto me? Crap, I'm such a terrible liar!

"To visit friends. Well, except Siwon-oppa. I think he went to church, since it's Sunday... I can't believe they would just ditch you on your birthday! That's horrible!" 

I sincerely hoped that insulting the members got him to ditch the idea that they weren't gone, like I'd told him they were. 

"I thought at least one of my hyungs would remember..." He seemed so sad, I simultaneously felt terrible for the extended lie, and wanted to laugh because my lying was so terrible, yet he'd still fallen for it.

He unlocked the door, still looking like he was about to cry. 

And then, like magic, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYEOWOOK-AH!!!!!"

There was a various chaos of members coming from all directions, highlighted by Eunhyuk trying to run in, looking cool, but slipping on the hardwood floor so he almost did the splits. 

Henry and Sungmin came out of the kitchen with the seaweed soup and the cake, looking very professional, presenting it to him with a flourish.

"Omo, when did you guys make all of this?!" He exclaimed, almost in tears. 

Suddenly a whole bunch of fingers were pointed at me, and Kyuhyun was shrugging, saying "it was all Jageun's idea."

Suddenly Wookie was hugging me, and I myself had to resist the urge to cry. Instead, as I pulled away, I swallowed my tears and smiled. "Well, don't just let the soup get cold! It's time to eat!"

I felt quite satisfied with myself, after the positive commentary about the soup. But they hadn't yet even had my cake. I had just announced that, since dinner had been finished, I would cut the cake, giving Wookie-oppa the first piece, when the doorbell rang. 

"I'll go get it!" I yelled, since, as the housekeeper, that was also supposed to be my job. But who could be visiting at this time of night?

I ran to look at the screen, but I could already hear footsteps coming down the hallway. Did the person have a key?

I ran to the door, hearing a knock. I threw the door wide, energized by the environment of the birthday, and pure curiousity. 

"AHJUSSHI!!!!!!!!!!" I yelled, tackling him. At that moment, I didn't think of being proper, or holding back. My happiness at who I saw in the doorway overcame any inhibitions.

"Ajusshi?!" he exclaimed, looking down at me as I squeezed my arms around his midsection.

Suddenly a bunch of guys were crowding around me, most of them behind me, but some coming around to give the person I was hugging... a hug. Soon there was a humongous group hug going on, with me in the center of it. Only this time it didn't end in a dog pile.

"Teukie-hyung, you made it!" Ryeowook exclaimed, and I let Leeteuk go, standing back to let him inside. He must have been just visiting, because he was still in his military uniform, to include the black boots. At a sudden thought, I wondered if he was wearing shoelifts in those boots.

"I'm only off for a few hours, so I came to say happy birthday to our Ryeowookie. But... who is this?" He asked, looking down at me.

"This is Jageun," Kyuhyun replied, using my head as an armrest before I yanked him off and pushed him away, so he fell into the wall. I hated people using me as a headrest, even more than I loved Kyuhyun.

"No, that's not her name! Her name is Minimin!" Heechul called out, not helping Kyuhyun back up. 

"Minimin? But, Sungmin-ah, isn't that--"

"--She's our Ahjumma," Kangin cut Leeteuk off before he could finish.

"And the ELF Queen!" added Donghae. 

There were really too many people in that doorway. So I stepped on the nearest foot, and pushed them all backwards further into the dorm so I could introduce myself, since they were all doing a wonderful job.

"Annyeonghasseo, Ahjusshi! As Donghae-oppa said, I'm the ELF Queen. They call me that because I'm a very dedicated ELF who's also a trainee at SM, and after a few events, I actually work here at the dorm, cleaning and cooking, and other tasks.

"You're that ELF?! Oh wow! The same one they asked me to write to?"

"Teukie-hyung, don't stare at her like that; you'll freak her out," Kyuhyun commented. I wasn't that freaked out, actually, since I knew that Leeteuk could be a bit of a creeper. But I had to admit, if it were someone else on the recieving end of the star, they probably would have been creeped out. 

"I'm sorry, it's just... she's so cute!" He leaned down, seeming to recover from the hug. "So, do you like oppa?"

The other members groaned, but laughed. 

"Yes! In my ranking of SuJu-favoritism, Ahjusshi is number six!"

"Number six? And why do you keep calling me 'Ahjusshi'?"

"Because... Leeteuk-ahjusshi is an ahjusshi. Unless you want me to call you 'Samcheon'?"

"No! I'm still Oppa!" He argued, pouting.

"Ahjusshi, I'm fourteen years younger than you. I think you're an ahjusshi now."

"Can you at least pretend I'm Oppa?" He pleaded.

"Okay, Oppa. Whenever I remember." I smiled, still honestly elated that he was there. Old man that he may have been, he was still SuJu's leader, and the moment he entered, the group felt so much more complete. And, as the ELF Queen, that made me unbearably happy. "Does Oppa want some cake?"

I sat on the couch, laughing while Ryeowook opened his presents, most of which were strange and useless. But I still thought of that keychain. His girlfriend... would she want to be here?

"Niuwang, are you okay?" Zhou Mi asked, sitting next to me. He had his arm over the back of the couch, and my heart fluttered a little from his proximity, even as he asked me if anything was wrong, and what was wrong was that I thought I was just a bit in love with Ryeowook. 

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I was just zoning out," I lied. 

"Oh... it's just, you looked like you were thinking about something painful."

"Did I? Well, sorry for making you worry."

His eyes searched my face, taking in every square centimeter, every detail, and I almost wanted to shy away, but I also didn't want to.

"Niuwang..." His hand rose up, and his fingertips grazed the skin just under my right eyelid, where the black marker still remained. His fingers came away stained a little bit black, and wet. 

"You were crying," He murmured, just soft enough that I had to lean forward to hear him.

"I wasn't... I must have just been so happy to see Leeteuk. It's really amazing, to celebrate Wookie's birthday like this. It just makes me really sad that he's just visiting. I will have to make myself wait until the day our leader really returns!" I exclaimed with enthusiasm I only half-felt.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will..." He still seemed suspicious, but let it go. At which point, of course, Henry careened into the couch, falling into us both. He sat on Zhou Mi's lap, then complained about how bony it was, and rolled over, so I pushed him off the couch, laughing.

About a thousand calories later and a bunch of pictures with the many members of Super Junior, including Leeteuk, that went on Twitter and Instagram almost instantly, I finally came back into my own dorm, falling back onto my bed, not even bothering to turn on the light.

Surprisingly, Min Hee wasn't home to greet me, although it was late. I could almost always count on her being there, so I could spout my random feels to her as soon as I got back, but even after checking around the apartment, she was nowhere to be found. Could she possibly be shopping or something?

I pondered it for a while, staring up at the ceiling of the dorm where, in a bit of goofy childish-ness, Min Hee and I had glued the words "ELF Queen and SHINee Girl" using blue glow-in-the-dark beads. How long had it been since we had put that up there? Half a year?

So much had happened in that half a year. I had so many friends now, and so many feelings I could no longer explain, that the glow-in-the-dark beads were a strange comfort, making me think of a time when things were so much harder, yet so much simpler. Back then, we were just nameless trainees with no money and even less of a reputation. It was a lot different now. My friends were becoming lovers, and I wasn't sure if I could be a friend or more than a friend, and if I could be more than a friend, more than the ELF Queen, than who it would be with. Because it was most certainly not with Ryeowook. 

I still had hope that someday things would again make sense. There were still so many possibilities I had not yet explored, and so many doors to myself I had kept closed to the members for so long, that they hadn't yet been opened. But it wouldn't be too long. My heart belonged to me alone, for the moment, and would have to wait if it wanted to change owners. 

I loved them all. Just in different ways.

I must have been staring at that ceiling for at least an hour, until I heard laughing sounds, and a distinct Irish accent. I sat up so I could hear better, but still couldn't quite hear them through the wall. 

The door opened, and from the light from the hallway, I could see Min Hee's sillhouette, and the slightly flirtatious way she leaned against the doorframe. I looked away as she let John kiss her goodbye, feeling that watching them would be an invasion of privacy, even though it was pretty obvious that they couldn't tell I was there.

I saw John walk back down the hallway, his hands in his pockets, and then Min Hee turn back to the dorm, giggling. She took off her shoes, then flicked on the light, temporarily blinding me.

She looked up from her shoes and gasped, letting the door slam behind her. I guess she saw me now.

"Mel, when did you-- why are you-- I thought you would be asleep!"

"You, my dear," I grinned, "Have been caught red-handed."