“Happy birthday, hyung…” six hushed voices chorused in the middle of the night; and that kept playing in SooHyun’s mind for the next six hours of his supposed-to-be-peaceful-sleep.

 

“AAAAAHHH!” he had arouse from his bed and was now facing six grinning aliens at the foot of his bed. His eyes enlarged on how the other members’ eyes sparkled, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HYUNG!” they all shouted. As far as he can remember, those same voices didn’t let him have serenity in his sleep. On cue, he pointed on the door and shouted “All of you! OUT!” now, all the smiles had turned into deep pouts. s were staring at him as if he was a ruthless monster that had taken their happy beings and were now pleading for it back. The leader can’t take it anymore and so explained, still hot-headed, “WHAT?! Do you know that that midnight whispers of yours bugged me for the rest of my sleep?!” not a single one budged.

 

WOW.

 

And there the conversation ended. The leader used his power to put all six bodies out of his room; and all of them whining in the process. As soon as all the kids were out, he locked the door then leaned on it, panting. He had soon put a smile on his face, he haven’t washed up or anything but he didn’t mind. The silence took the stress out –

 

“HYUNG! Let me in!” not until the little monster hysterically knocked on the door like a mad man who had drunk a case of beer. The elder who was currently in, heaved a deep breath and said, trying to be calm as possible, “DongHo… You should behave or else I’ll rip your dog apart” on the other side, the others persuaded the maknae to make an excuse so that SooHyun will open the door. DongHo then thought of something and blurted out “I need to pee…” SooHyun almost burst out of anger, hearing the useless excuse that the maknae had used. “DongHo I am not holding the comfort room. Neither am I the comfort room. It’s down the hallway, left. Understood?” he explained, making the boy on the other side of the door turn red with the five pair of eyes ready to dig into him “Hyung…” DongHo’s voice turned out shaky.

 

After some seconds, an ear-piercing shout from the maknae was heard all over the dorm as he run here and there. The shouts of protests of the others were heard especially AJ & Eli’s while Kevin tried to stop them “YA! Don’t hurt our baby!”. The noise was obviously too loud but SooHyun was too far away to hear them, he raced to his night stand to check his phone and… ta-dah! There was a message, the one that he’s expecting.

 

From: Eunnie ^^

Happy birthday, oppa! :DDD

 

His fingers literally flew all over the screen of his phone as he replied to the message, “Where and when will we meet?” he was so eager to see his girl after weeks of having nothing but mere text messages and calls containing their feels towards each other. It wasn’t enough for him, he need her to be beside him. And that was made impossible by their individual busy schedules, SooHyun was with his group for their promotion of collage while EunChae had gone to Japan for her modeling tasks. They haven’t met since last month and SooHyun knew that she couldn’t miss his birthday because she knew how disappointed the man will be once she ditched him. After all, she wouldn’t do that – SooHyun’s face turned blank when he received the next message of Eunchae.

 

From: Eunnie ^^

Sorry, oppa, but I can’t make it today. My flight was canceled due to the delays of photoshoot.

It was moved to Saturday so… I am really sorry :’(

 

In the middle of the silence, Kevin sang their title track,

♪ ‘CauseI’m on fire, ♪

♪ But you keep on standing still. ♪

♪ Ye I’m burning down, ♪

♪ But you keep on standing still. ♪

 

“YA! Kevin! Shut up!” SooHyun shouted in irritation, he thought it was over but after just a matter of seconds, the group sang “Shut Up!” making the leader just sigh. He was then brought into a series of questions, does their current title track was destined for him? Doesn’t Eunchae love him? Doesn’t he deserve a decent birthday?

 

“Aiish! What a disastrous birthday!” he clutched onto his head in frustration.

✰✰✰

 

All day, the group strolled around Seoul, doing whatever they want. Making the day worth it because this is only the day that their manager had let them out. Then they went home continuing the day with a min-party. They had made a big chaos inside, trash here and there, liquids splashed all over the floor, bits of foods smashed everywhere. If ever their manager happens to see this, they’ll be into a round of rants or two but the point was their manager wasn’t there so the party continues! AJ & Eli were the most wildly out of them, they were the hosts for the day and no one can stop them. Kiseop was taking pictures here and there but most of those were his; once, DongHo had told him “If you had been a photographer, I wouldn’t go in any of your photo exhibits. I would be traumatized on the amount of your pictures displayed in there.” Hoon & Kevin were busy with the foods while the poor maknae was hiding behind their leader, not wanting to join the mess. And the leader, he was literally being a stone sat beside the wall. His mind was again floating to Japan, searching for the one he wanted right now – EunChae.

 

Sooner or later, it was late. The party had long ended and as usual, Kevin was left to clean the whole mess after losing in a round of rock-paper-scissors with the others. He dragged DongHo with him even if the young one was throwing his late night tantrums. He had no choice, AJ & Eli passed out so Hoon volunteered to accompany them in their vomiting session;  Kiseop was still busy with his photographs and; SooHyun decided to sleep his stress out. In the midst of washing the dishes, that was the last task for the night, Kevin asked

“What’s wrong with SooHyun hyung?”

“Huh? Is there?” DongHo raised a brow

“He have been quiet for a while you should’ve noticed, you’ve been with him all day!” Kevin answered.

“You mean, him not responsing to any of my reports earlier when AJ hyung & Eli hyung messed? That’s the usual!” the maknae scrunched his nose in annoyance,

“Not that. He was quiet in a different way; completely different…” the other concluded.

“Then maybe it has something to do with EunChae noona not being here?” they both got the towel to dry their hands

“NEH! That was it! She’s not here… aww, poor leader. We had to do something about this” Kevin eyed DongHo with seriousness on his face, the latter nodded and smirked.

 

Three days flew by with U-KISS having unending schedules that nearly killed them; but nonetheless, they kept those charming smiles on their face as if they were robots that never lose out of energy. They barely had time their selves and even their regular sleep’s not enough to regain a proper health. But they could care less. It was almost midnight when they reached home and so everyone decided to simply slump their overused bodies on their own beds. All of them were driven to dream landia. But at least that was the leader’s perspective, as soon as he, himself, was deep in his slumber, the rest crept into his room quietly.

 

“Happy birthday, hyung…” six hushed voices were heard upon the silence,

 

SooHyun furrowed his brows in weirdness. He didn’t know if it is just because of sheer tiredness that he was experiencing such flashbacks or maybe it was just really happening. Whatever it is, he have no energy to steal a peek because the tiredness took over him.

 

It feels weird to remember the same thing that had passed for days; at least for SooHyun. He kept on waking on his sleep, feeling so much uncomfortable than ever. He was hearing his door open or even murmurs that sound like s’. “It was a dream, it was a dream” he chants & chants, making his self believe even though there were only voices, not a single picture could be seen, only darkness. The leader let it as tomorrow will be a free day for the whole group, thinking that he can just sleep the next day away. It was already past midnight when the poor man was able to sleep all the way, finally getting to ignore the noises that he kept on hearing. However, he covered himself with his blanket at the fear of seeing a ghost inside his room.

 

Later that day, the sun had gone up. Yawning, SooHyun stretched his limbs only to be surprised to see all six of his co-members at the foot of his bed, grinning. Is this how much I’ve gone insane? SooHyun slapped himself just to confirm that what was going on is true. Surely, the picture of his co-members remained.

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HYUNG!” the boys shouted,

 

“Oh my God” SooHyun hit his head

“Eh? Hyung? Why hit yourself?” DongHo leaned closer to him.

“Why are you all repeating this?!” the latter yelled, pissed as he looks

“Huh? The rest innocently blinked, looking baffled to what their leader was doing.

“My birthday al – ,” he took a glance at the digital clock hanging on the wall – it also shows the date – only to be surprised “What. Is happening…” he told to himself.

 

He dashed out of the room and looked at every clock in their dorm, even those calendars that the members used to mark everyday, but he failed. Every one thing that he can use as a proof to his co-members’ prank was clean, they were exactly arranged as it is when he woke up that day of his birthday. Even the pile of dishes, the mountain of laundry or the magazine that AJ had scanned last night, they were all in place. “Really, what was happening?” then he remembered his phone, the members were still there, lazing out everywhere. Briskly, he went to his night stand & grabbed his phone. Like before, he had a message; that one message…

 

From: Eunnie ^^

Happy birthday, oppa!

 

And again, his fingers jabbed the screen of his phone here and there.

 

To: Eunnie ^^

Aren’t you playing a trick on me?

 

After sending it, his attention drifted towards the other persons in his room. They were busy doing their own things, suddenly, a hand landed on SooHyun’s shoulder. “What do we have for today?” AJ inquired, SooHyun massaged his temples “I clearly don’t know. This is clearly a mess.”

 

Out-of-nowhere, the doorbell rang; Kevin stood up saying “I guess I have to welcome someone” with that, he disappeared. SooHyun was clearly curious about what is going on, why would s repeat the day that he despise, to piss him more? They better not or they didn’t know what’s coming on their way. The sound of kevin’s voice talking to someone made him alert, who was he talking to? He scanned the room and surely, they were complete. Who is their visitor? Manager Shim? Clearly not. He wouldn’t bother to get inside just to check them. He trust them; they wouldn’t just escape. So who is it? DongHo’s mom? But she just called to the maknae, telling him she wouldn’t be able to visit his baby ‘cause they had this staff’s meeting. Other relatives? That’s a blur. The other members were the one that visit their family when they’re free; they are too matured to be visited as they say. They were tough men.

 

“Oppa~” a lady walked in making the boys straight up,

“Noona!” they all waved to the girl except for SooHyun who was dubfounded.

 

Then SooHyun remembered that today was the date of her arrival – EunChae. But wait, that was on his true calendar but not the calendar that God-knows-who made. It was his birthday and EunChae was supposed to arrive 4 days farther. Aiish! I need detective Conan here! SooHyun didn’t even budge on his position and so EunChae decided that she should bring the latter to the true world. “YAH!” she slapped the boy on the arm, hard, “Won’t you even greet me after I go here for your birthday?!” “Not until you all reveal what was going on” the leader crossed his arm. “You know, he’s been acting weird since he woke up. He had been asking us what was happening or why are we replaying this, though it’s just now that this happened. He was sooooo weird!” Eli explained to the girl who had her brows furrowed, so this means I only dreamt of my early birthday? I only dreamt that EunChae wasn’t able to go? Despite of all what was happening, SooHyun started smiling at the thought. “Oh my goodness! Look at that! Our leader’s going retarded!” Hoon pointed at their leader, he was really smiling like crazy, “So… who wants to go out?” the latter had regained his energy and now was ready for an adventure.

 

The whole day was full of fun; the rest of U-KISS let the couple roam around themselves. The couple had been holding each other’s hand for the whole day, enjoying tight hugs and random pecks on the cheek. Even though some fangirls get into the way asking for pictures, EunChae would just let her boyfriend to sign and accompany the girls as she knows how it feels to see and talk to your favorite idol. She was once a fan. And she knows… that now, she would be forever in-love to the crazy man she’s currently with. He was a perfectionist while she kept on messing around. He was meticulous while she’s just fine with things even if it is not perfect as long as she have one. He was an octopus while she’s a bird. He likes red while she likes white. He knows how to handle a problem while she just makes things worse. Shortly, they were opposites; opposites that fell in-love with the guide of fate.

 

He still didn’t know what was going on and so she was happy. Kevin had planned all of this, starting from the déjà vu to their destination. He had paired with DongHo to organize the day and contact EunChae on Japan because the elder knows that the maknae won’t bother calling overseas. She was grateful to hear the two planning about how she can make it out to her boyfriend without him feigning hurt all day about her not being able to go on the exact day of his birthday. But now that they had done it, she was worried on how she will reveal the latter on what was happening when all these times, he believed that he just dreamt of his true birthday. She was accepting the fact now that her boyfriend somewhat lack on IQ because until now, he didn’t know that this was all a set up. They were now on a boat, sailing through the middle of the river. EunChae guessed that it was the right time to reveal everything and apologize.

 

“Oppa…” she looked deeply into his eyes like she committed a serious crime,

“Yes?... is there something wrong?” he scooted closer to her in worry.

“Oppa, sorry I didn’t make it on your birthday” she bowed her head

“What are you saying?” the other was yet again baffled

“If you still didn’t figure it out, what happened on the past few days were true. We – Kevin, DongHo and I – just planned today. They told me that you were really down on your birthday because of my absence and so we planned on how I can make it out to you. We ended up to this plan and tell the others. As soon as I arrived this morning, I dropped by our house just to put my luggage there then went straight to your dorm for the day’s plan. Although the plan went perfect, I am still disappointed to myself on what I wasn’t able to do for you. I am worried that you’ll be hurt and even decide to ignore me. I was… I –”

 

Tears flowed down her cheeks and so she covered her face with her two hands, ashamed that she broke down infront of her man.

 

As the girl cried, SooHyun felt guilty on what he had done on his birthday. He thought about all the effort that she made and also s, now he know what those noise is about; definitely because they were arranging things for him not to know the real date. He thought about how EunChae was tired, directly going to him without even taking a rest after her flight, haven’t she got jetlagged? He was thankful for all the efforts that his friends and his girl made for him. He was sorry for acting childishly on his birthday, maybe if he hadn’t done that then maybe EunChae had the rest that she should have but it was too late for him to think about that, instead, he should think of how to comfort EunChae now.

 

He hugged her and let her cry on his shoulder, “Sssshhh… it’s all my fault, you shouldn’t be sorry” he said. “No…” hiccup, “It was – ” hiccup “Mine…” she continued to sob. Feeling so bad not making it on her own boyfriend’s birthday, “It doesn’t matter… you know that” SooHyun patted her back, “All that matters is your presence.” She didn’t react, though. “You know… if you just can’t make it on time… it’s better late than nothing. I am grateful to have you, Eunnie… you never failed to make me happy on my birthday…” he held her chin up and looked at her, wiping the tears that she had poured out.

 

“We can’t possibly turn time back… but you can just make it up for the rest of the time you had as long as you live. It isn’t wasting time as long as you found a way to make it worth it and that’s what you did… I love you…” SooHyun kissed her despite the fact that they can lose balance and make the boat that they’re riding on turn and sink. That was one of the crazy things that love can do to one, be blind of what things could turn out but love is also the one that can make things better than ever.

 

“I think your right but turning the clock back is much easier”

 

They laughed at the lame joke and shared another kiss that sealed the rest of the day.