Chapter 49

Annie found herself humming the song they had performed from earlier in the bathroom. She couldn't help herself. It may not be her kind of song but it sure was catchy, she thought. Good thing she was alone because it would have been awkward given the fact that she was still wearing her pirate's costume. The party was nowhere near over meaning she had to deal with the discomfort all throughout the night whether she liked it or not. But then, it was for the birthday boy, she told herself. Anything for the birthday boy, was her mantra of the night. She sighed.

As she exited the stall to wash her hands, she removed her eye patch to allow her covered eye to breathe a bit. Soon, she found herself examining it as she looked into her reflection. The black eye still left a slight bruise but her eye showed progress in improvement. Dr. McDreamy Minho was right. She admitted to having doubted his expertise since he was still a young doctor at that. Even though her eye didn't hurt as much than it did before, it still hurt at times when she would press against it. A little makeup could work wonders for her eye, she noted to herself.

She soon found herself thinking about him once again. Smiling to herself, she thought about their little moments together. He was great with children which was not very common when it came to guys. If anything, he was better with children than she was believe it or not. He could teach her a thing or two, she thought. He knew how to make her laugh with his boyish antics. She liked how his deep voice would contrast with his innocent little smile. And, there was something about his gummy smile that gave Annie a warm fuzzy feeling inside. He was very ambitious and smart, not to mention very protective when he had to be.

However, she had to shake that thought away when she thought about her eye. It's not his fault, she thought. It was the only excuse she could find just so she could kick him. Chuckling, she had to admit he did deserve it. That's what he gets for stringing her along with his mixed signals especially after those incidents in the photo booth, the batting cage, and even onstage! If she had to face him, Annie knew she had to act unaffected nevertheless. It was easier said than done and she knew it was what she had to do to shake these unwanted feelings aside. She couldn't afford to lose face if he found out.

Even so, her thoughts soon drifted over to Himchan. He couldn't have feelings for her, she thought shaking her head. Her friends have said so a few times before but she never saw it that way. He was just a kind guy who happened to know his way with the ladies. She never saw it any other way but considering her conversation with Youngjae in the room earlier, he made a valid point. The way he looked into her eyes when his part came up after Yongguk's still had her reeling. Either way, she had to shake those thoughts away.

Still humming, she grabbed her hat and sword then proceeded to make her way out of the bathroom in the hopes of joining her friends. Once outside the door, she found Miranda outside conversing with someone. When she looked closely, she realized that the person speaking to her employer was her husband himself. “You're leaving already?” Miranda demanded. She clearly did not seem happy about this.

“I have to head back to the office, Miranda,” he sighed. “I've got a deadline to meet.”

Miranda scoffed. “There's always a deadline isn't there? Or is it a meeting? I forget since you're always in the office,” she continued. “Danny was actually looking forward to spending his birthday with us and yet you are always on your phone not giving him any bit of attention! Do you have any idea how long I've been planning this?!” She raised her voice which prompted Annie to wince a little. She was surprised how well Mr. Shin was handling this but then they were married so surely, he was used to this. “I know what this is... You're meeting her, aren't you?”

“What?” he perked up. “Miranda, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, don't think I don't know about your liaisons with that new intern, I'm not stupid,” she said. “You should seriously end your relationship before word gets out.”

He scoffed. “I should say the same for you,” he retorted back. Miranda froze as she looked back at her husband.

Annie's eyes widened. What the hell was he talking about? She wondered.

Clearing , she returned to her cold and sophisticated demeanor. It was as if she never blew up at her husband to begin with. “Look,” she said finally. “Now, is not the time to discuss these things. Just do whatever you want. I can care less.” She turned to leave. “But if you're leaving, at least say goodbye to Danny before you go.” She said over her shoulder before going back into the room.

As soon as they were out of the hall, Annie stepped out from behind the wall and breathed a sigh of relief. That was intense, she thought looking towards the door. Dazed, she did not realize Yongguk standing nearby observing her. Looking up, she flinched. “Oh !” she exclaimed, panting. “Where did you come from?”

“Are you okay?” he asked, his tone full of concern as he made his way to her. “You seem a little dazed.”

Looking up at him, she sighed. “I think I just witnessed a very intense couple spat,” she said wearily.

“Why? What happened?” he asked, becoming alert.

“Danny's parents,” she told him. “Need I say more?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, I see,” he nodded in understanding, catching on right away.

They were silent for a moment. Clearly, she knew why he was out here but that was not important at the moment given what she'd witness moments before. Finally, she decided to speak up. “I should head inside before they start asking for me,” she said, putting her eye patch over her eye then placing her hat back onto her hat.

He cleared his throat and nodded. “Sure thing,” he replied, watching her retreating figure head into the room. He did, however, happened to notice her injured eye showed progress in improvement since injuring it not too long ago.

As they both entered together, Annie and Yongguk noticed the room grow quiet. Only wailing could be heard throughout the room. Shifting their attention to the source, Annie immediately ran over to Daniel wailing for his parents. “You see what you did?” Miranda's voice could be heard whispering angrily to her husband.

“He'll get over it,” her husband responded as he attempted to pry his son's hands off his expensive suit. “Danny,” he said kneeling down to his son's level. “Daddy has to go so be good.” He finally said before making his way to the door past Annie and Yongguk, barely seeming to acknowledge them.

“Daddy!” Daniel called out to him as he attempted to run after him.

Miranda then approached him, kneelig down to his level. “Danny,” she said calmly. “Let's go get you cleaned up. You know it's not okay to cry in front of a bunch of people.” She took his hand in hers.

He pried her hands off him. “Get away from me!” he cried out. Miranda sighed and shook her head. “I hate you, Mommy!” He exclaimed angrily running towards the direction of the door. Once he spotted Annie, he immediately ran over to her wrapping his arms around her in the process. Annie immediately took him into her arms to sooth him. Miranda, having witnessed the scene unfold, stood still, clearly stunned at the fact that her son ran over to his nanny instead of his own mother. She soon stood up, straightening her expensive dress before storming out of the room angrily ignoring her guests. The crowd seemed to be murmuring which was not helping the situation much.

“It's gonna be okay, Danny,” Annie said soothingly into his ear. “I'm right here,” she assured him, holding him tightly. She then found herself glancing over at Yongguk, who in turn gave her a knowing nod. She took note of his clenched jaw knowing he was just as concerned for Daniel as she was. Soon, her friends joined them. Himchan and Youngjae had resorted to seeing the guests off.

“I'll get the car,” Daehyun said finally.

Annie nodded. “Thanks,” she mouthed over to him. He grinned slightly giving her an assuring wink. “Anytime,” he mouthed back.

“Come on, Danny, let's go get you cleaned up, okay?” Annie finally said looking into the boy's eyes.

An adorable but tear-stained face looked back at her and nodded. He was still frowning. “I'll go with you,” Lucy offered.

“Okay, sure thing, Luce,” Annie said as she carried Daniel in her arms. Lucy proceeded to lead them out of the room into the bathroom. As soon as they got inside, Annie set him down on the counter and dispensed a wet paper towel, gently wiping his face in the process. She playfully ruffled his hair prompting him to giggle slightly. “So I'm thinking,” she spoke up finally glancing at Lucy's reflection in the mirror. “We can take him back to the cafe for a bit, if that's okay with you.”

Lucy gave her an assuring smile and nodded. “I'm fine with it,” she said. “I'll tell the guys to meet us there.” She then took out her phone to make a call.

“Thanks, Luce,” Annie grinned in return, grateful for the friends she was blessed with. She was glad they were understanding about this situation.

“Anytime,” she said before proceeding to speak into her phone.

“Okay, close your eyes, Danny,” Annie instructed him as she tied a blindfold over his doe-like eyes. “Promise me you won't peak.”

“I promise, Nanny,” Daniel said, closing his eyes.

It was just the three of them: Annie, Daniel, and Yongguk settling into a booth. Annie finally managed to change out of her uncomfortable pirate's costume. She decided to place her hat over his head as a special birthday hat. He seemed a little excited about it which was what mattered most. For once, she decided to put her differences with Yongguk aside for now because Daniel was her main priority at the moment. Lucy and the others managed to change out of their own costumes. Zelo and Jongup managed to improvise with a bit of decoration in the cafe by placing ribbons around one wall and Daehyun even managed to make a sign that read “Happy Birthday Danny!”

Still angry about the events that transpired at the party with his parents, Annie decided to be spontaneous for once wanting Daniel to at least enjoy a decent birthday without the drama between his parents. Her friends couldn't have agreed more. Realizing they were on a time crunch, the guys decided to rush back to the cafe to make some impromptu decorations. Lucy allowed them to take one of the cakes on display to use as Daniel's birthday cake. Boy, was he in for a treat, they thought, smiling approvingly as they glanced around the cafe.

“Okay, are you ready?” Annie asked.

Daniel nodded eagerly.

“Okay, on three,” Yongguk chimed in. “1... 2... 3!” He counted down then removed the blind fold.

Soon, Daehyun entered the room carrying a cake with five candles followed by Lucy, Jongup, Zelo, Youngjae, and Himchan grinning happily. The smile on Daniel's face was priceless as everyone proceeded to sing Happy Birthday to him. “Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday dear Danny... Happy birthday to you!” They finished. “Make a wish, Danny!” Yongguk urged him.

Daniel proceeded to shut his eyes for a moment before finally blowing out the candles, beaming happily. “What did you wish for?” Daehyun asked.

“Dae,” Annie gave him a warning look. “You don't ask what he wished for! It won't come true if he tells you!”

Daehyun frowned. “Thought I'd ask...” he muttered.

“One would expect for you to ask about the cake,” Lucy remarked which resulted in snickering from the whole room. Daehyun glared at her.

As the cake was getting distributed, Jongup and Zelo stayed behind to tend to Daniel while Annie gathered the others to talk. She sighed. “Anyone care to tell me what happened back at the party?” she asked finally.

Lucy shrugged. “Not sure,” she said honestly, glancing over at the birthday boy giggling with Jongup and Zelo. “It seems to me that his parents had a fight prior to entering and took it out on the poor kid. Then as the husband announces he's leaving Danny threw a fit and, well, you know the rest.”

Annie sighed and shook her head. “Those two seriously have issues,” she muttered.

“Tell me about it,” Yongguk chimed in.

“I may have witnessed the little argument they had in the hallway before they went inside,” Annie confessed. She felt five pairs of eyes staring back at her. “What?”

“That, makes a lot of sense,” Youngjae managed to say. “What were they arguing about?”

“Something about Mr. Shin caring about nothing but work and Miranda complaining about how long it took for her to plan this party, blah, blah, blah,” Annie said flatly. “All I know is that it was unpleasant and a little scary.” She finally said, leaving out the infidelity part of the conversation.

“Those two do not deserve to be parents,” Daehyun finally said. “And yet, you work for them.”

She sighed and nodded. “Unfortunately,” she said, raising her hands in defeat. “Anyways, let's just try to join them before Danny starts getting bored.” She announced, then made her way to the booth with the others following close behind.

Himchan's phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a text message from Miranda. Reluctantly, he decided to open the message to read. Of course, as expected, she wanted to see him. Witnessing the events that transpired earlier, he noted her vulnerability and felt a little remorseful. Clearing his throat, he garnered everyone's attention. “I should really get going,” he announced.

Frowning, Annie nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Thanks again for your help tonight. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” he told her. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow!” she exclaimed.

“Bye guys,” he said giving everyone a slight wave before exiting the cafe.

A/N: Okay I apologize for this update! Why? Because I felt like it was sloppy on my part! It was somewhat of a filler chapter. So I'm sorry! >.< Anyways, I wanted to incorporate BAP's song "Happy Birthday" into this chapter but decided against it since it didn't suit this scene all that much... I mean I thought it would be weird of them to sing it to a little boy when it's clearly meant to be sung to a girl! Just saying... We'll see about that in the future chapters lol. Anyways, it feels great to be back! Haha, I thought I'd come back with a Bang! (No pun intended >.<) So you guys were in for a treat with a double update for the time being... I'll try to update again! Don't mind the errors, I didn't edit this when I wrote this so please forgive me! >.<

Also, not that it matters but I cannot wait for BTOB's comeback!!! AHHHH!!! Just saw their teaser and thought, "Hmm I'm liking the dark concept Cube has come up with lately." Haha two words: HOT DAMN... Nuff said.

Of course, I just thought I'd share something with you guys but I officially have a new obsession and it's this American show recommended to me by my bff Suzie called "Revenge" and I'm in love with it! It's not often I come across a character with the name Amanda lol. That's the main character's name btw but she ended up changing it to Emily when she assumed a new identity. It's still refreshing to hear my own name on a tv show lol. I know I'm weird like that >.<   ^^ I feel bad for not watching it sooner, I'm rewatching it on Netflix and I've been hooked even though I'm only on the 5th episode of season 1. I just love the premise of the show and it takes a lot for me to become interested in an American show at that. Well I do like "Once Upon a Time" along with others but I haven't had time to watch a lot of them lol. Okay I'll stop talking! Happy reading! ^^