The silence she was welcomed with, concerned Chaima. There was no sound whatsoever, no sign of life. Possible science fiction scenarios where people were randomly abducted by some alien force popped in her mind and the girl unwillingly found herself slightly panicking. She knew how ridiculous the images in her mind were, but she couldn't help herself.

The fact that Chaima was actually a scaredy cat, despite her tough exterior, was her real reason to start to freak out. She was in the exact copy of her own house, only the decoration was different, with lights off and supposedly there were people inside. At least she had seen Onew disappear into his parental home. But right now, he was nowhere to be found.

The brunette took a cautious step towards the living room, attempting to make as little sound as possible. When she thought she heard a sound coming from somewhere, Chaima froze in mid step leaving her in an awkward position. Her eyes shifted from one side to the other trying to locate the source of the sound and trying to figure out whether she was driving nuts or not. 

It was simple actually. Chaima's mind was playing tricks on her, while she was cautious of everything that could possibly make her jump through the roof and steal her sleep for the upcoming several nights. The girls mind finally made a click of realisation. She thought of the probability of Onew playing a trick or joke on her. He was probably holding his laughter while she, like the scaredy cat she was, cowered in fear, awaiting whatever misfortune destiny would cast upon her.

Several more steps towards the door, brought her only a foot away from the entrance to the living room. The door was slightly opened, allowing the bright light of the hallway to draw a line of yellow in the dark room. Even the curtains were drawn, she noticed, as it was almost impossible to make out the furniture in the room. Chaima's fingers moved to the wooden board that protected her from the evil within the walls and pushed it lightly.

"Oppa?" She called out softly. When she wasn't met with a response, she repeated the call this time a little louder. "Jinki-oppa!"

Again no response. After taking in a great amount of air in her lungs, Chaima pushed the door with her palm roughly releasing the excessive air from her lungs as it flew open. The light of the hallway filled the room, revealing the contours of several pieces of furniture. As Chaima's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could also make out the silhouette of a person, no several people in the center.

The sound of singing voices suddenly filled her ears and from the corner of her eyes she saw small flickering flames move closer to her. Once the cake with the lit candles were right in front of her, she could make out the three people's features and she recognised them immediately. In the middle was Jinhee, smiling adoringly with the cake in her hands, while her son and husband stood on either side of her.

Chaima was too dumbfounded to even react and even her brain could accumulate a decent response. It was as if her body had frozen in the moment of shock and complete bliss. Her heart felt like it would jump out of her chest, violently bursting through her ribcage and attempt an immediate escape to heaven. A shiver ran down her body, making her realise that time hadn't stopped as she thought it had.

She could make out the words that were sung. It was the happy birthday song in Korean. One of the first songs she had learned with her lacking korean knowledge, when she still lived in her home country. The voices tickled her ears and played her heartstrings in a pleasant way as they made her eyes feel heavy and a sting pierced the bridge of her nose. Tears were inevitable.

"Chaima dear, are you okay?" The girl heard Jinhee ask.

Chaima's response was a vague muffled hiccup. Once she realised that she had uttered an embarrassing sound, the girl nodded and flustered. The girl gazed at the candles that were frighteningly short, slowly melting the icing around them away leaving holes around them. Her eyes flashed from father, to mother to the son who pointed at the candles with his trademark goofy grin that carried his pride.

The girls deep brown eyes moved back to the cake and with a deep inhaled breath, she puffed the air towards the flickering flames and killed them. The room fell dark for no longer than ten seconds, until the lamps were . Chaima's eyes were on the cake, noting the small puddles of colourful candle wax here and there.

She jumped involuntarily at the booming snaps of party crackers throwing confetti all over her. Her eyes shifted to Onew, forming a failed glare as he snickered mischievously and popped another one right in front of her, to completely cover her with small pieces of paper in all colours. Chaima grabbed a party popper as well and pulled the string while she aimed it at Onew.

The man squirmed and let out a shout, but nothing ever hit him. From Chaima's popper, a paper flower erupted, leaving the girl laughing at the elder young man's overreaction. Her laughter was joined by the other three as more poppers were popped all - to Onew's dismay- aimed at the singer, who attempted to run away or hide behind someone from them.

"Happy birthday Chaima. Let's eat the cake now!" Onew suggested.

He winced and whined childishly at the slap he received from his mother on the back of his head.

"Aigoo this little pig. Give the birthday girl the first bite!" Jinhee playfully scolded her son.

"I wasn't planning on taking it eomma! She might be the birthday girl, but she's also the maknae. Privileges to the youngest." He assured his mother.

And on cue the happy group of four enjoyed the home made cake by Jinhee with a nice cup of tea. Chaima hadn't expected to spend her birthday like that. She had actually planned to do a drama marathon with a lot of junkfood and a whole cake she would eat by herself, knowing that there wasn't anyone she wanted to bother with her selfish request.

This suprise however, was so pleasant and touching that it made her miss her own parents. She was touched by her neighbours' kindness to spend the birthday of a stranger planning a surprise party, baking a cake and keeping her company. Jinhee had practically taken over the role of her mother, since her own was halfway around the globe, but she didn't dare to expect something like this from her. Although she secretly did wish it.

When the clock struck 11, Onew and Chaima left the house for a walk. Chaima knew that Jinhee and her husband would sleep around that time and she didn't want to keep them from their schedule. Especially since the said lady always scolded her for not sleeping enough, commenting on her panda eyebags whenever deadlines and exams approached. 

And outside is where the high light of the evening took place.

Author's note:

You all probably hate me right? :3 Right? ~ 

Sorry OTL Life caught up with me. And I promised myself to finish this fic and Body Language before I continue ProSo~ It is because both of these shortfics are almost at an end :3 ~ The fluff is going to be completely maxed BWAHAHA.

I know you hate me for the cliffhanger. Sorry OTL

Enjoy reading.

Lots of love,

Saenan