Hello/Goodbye - Hyorin

Gift

“Aerin, I won’t be able to come over today.” Sehun’s voice resonated Aerin’s speakerphone, making the girl form a rather disappointed look on her face.

Everyday, Sehun would be the one to wake Aerin up, bring her breakfast, wash her truck, and just about everything that most boyfriends wouldn’t bother to do. It almost made Aerin feel bad—guilty, rather—since she felt like a princess whenever she was with Sehun. She didn’t ask him to be so handy and she wouldn't have minded if she were the one to serve him, but the male was just as stubborn as her own mom--so much so that they could pass off as actual mother and son.

Therefore, that day, at only 7 in the morning, Aerin woke up by herself. Sehun usually went to her place at around ten, but she wanted to surprise him. She wanted to be the one to make breakfast, wash her truck, and complete every other thing that he usually did for her. She wasn’t a good cook, definitely not as skilled as Sehun’s father, but she could at least crack some eggs and fry some bacon without having the smoke alarms go off.

Plus, in just one more day, she’d already be eighteen. The least she could do was try to act like one.

But as she got out of the bathroom and was about to go downstairs and face her battlefield of a kitchen, her phone beeped, indicating that a voicemail had just come. Seeing Sehun’s name on the screen, she immediately listened to the message, and no sooner had she heard his apology did a frown replace the determined expression of her face.

“Aerin, I won’t be able to come over today. Seongim-noona dragged me to Seoul early this morning, maybe around 5…ugh…I'm still groggy. She said I needed to sign some papers for my previous school or something, but I think she just wanted to meet her friend there and was in need of someone who will drive for her. Luhan-hyung had somewhere to go today so I had no choice but to go with noona.” The line went silent for about a half second before Sehun’s voice sounded again. “I know you’re still sleeping at this time and I didn’t want to wake you up so that’s why I left this message. But you’re going to be fine by yourself, right? It’s much better this way since, when I see you tomorrow on your birthday, it’ll be even more romantic. I’ll still try to go home early though. For the meantime, don’t miss me too much because the first face you’ll see tomorrow will be mine…that is, if Uncle Heegun will allow that.” Sehun chuckled, and Aerin couldn't help but smile. He’s still so silly. “Well, anyway, message me once you wake up, okay? I love you so much my sweet, dear, cutiepie, honey—“

“Stop kissing the phone you idiot! We’re going to be late!” A voice which Aerin labeled to be Seongim’s suddenly yelled in the background.

“But Noona—geez, woman, stop pulling my hair!” Rustles and incoherent voices were heard. A quick “Aerin, bye!” was heard and the voicemail ended.

Aerin would have been lying if she said that she wasn’t disappointed, but then again, Sehun’s thoughtfulness made up for it, as well as the funny conversation she got to hear between him and Seongnim in the voicemail. Indeed, Sehun is always like a ball of sunshine.

After releasing a drawn-out sigh as she finished responding to Sehun’s voicemail, Aerin pushed the 'send' button and smiled. She was about to go out again when, this time, a text message came in.

Can we meet by the stairs at the beach?

Aerin frowned as she saw the sender's name. So he sacrificed Sehun just to meet me?

Aerin remained still for a few seconds, trying to make sense of what the message really meant. It was just a simple question—a request—but knowing message's sender, it could mean an entirely different thing. She wasn’t accusing him, but she just wanted to make sure, especially now that her boyfriend, Sehun, wasn’t around. Meeting him was a perfect chance to open up a topic that she would rather forget than hear about again. Even as she ate through her breakfast, she continued to stare at the message, hoping that at any moment, the hidden meaning would suddenly appear and enlighten her boggled mind. It was becoming increasingly obviously that something like that wouldn’t happen anytime soon the more she stared at her phone. As if the sender read her mind, another message appeared.

Don’t worry. I just want to greet you before your birthday.

Reading it, Aerin felt a bit mortified, believing that the sender held motives other than what he had just told her. But then again, no one could blame her. She and Sehun might have already announced their current relationship, and people seemed to accept them, but that wouldn’t change the fact that almost all of the time, words differed from thoughts.

Nonetheless, Aerin decided to go along with the invitation. She believed that there was no harm in meeting up with the male. Even if things had gotten complicated between the two of them, the fact remained that the male was still her best friend. Maybe he really just wants to celebrate my birthday beforehand.

Grabbing her truck keys from her side table, Aerin walked back downstairs, only to be met by her father.

 “Aerin, I’ll just drop this off at the local office and meet with a few clients, but I’ll surely be back by dinner. Are you going somewhere?” Heegun asked, coming out from his room on the first floor, formally dressed with paper bags in his hands. The man had promised to take the day off tomorrow for Aerin’s small party, so he had to finish up prior commitments that day. “Don’t come home late though, since we’ll have to prepare the house for the party tonight.”

Aerin hadn’t seen him in weeks, but she didn’t feel bad knowing that he would be out for the day again. She thought that it was better, to be honest, since it would only mean that he was intent on fulfilling his promise—even going as far as to prepare for it with her. They weren’t as close as how other fathers and daughters were and they interacted very little with each other, so having to do something with Heegun—especially without a certain devil’s spawn—made it all the more special.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Aerin said, giving her father a smile before climbing into her truck. “I’m just going to meet Luhan at the beach.” Receiving a nod from Heegun, Aerin left.

It didn’t take her a long to reach the beach, even though a part of her had wanted to. For some reason, even at that moment, just the prospect of meeting up with Luhan made Aerin feel uneasy, much more so since it would only be the two of them. Aerin didn’t know the reason exactly, since it was already clear that things between the two of them were done. But she had always been restless when she was with Luhan, be it a good or bad reason, so Aerin decided to just ignore her feelings.

Aerin was glad she did, because once she stepped foot on the rocky grounds near the stairs connecting to the shores of the beach, she heard a melody of what seemed to be a piano suddenly playing. “Happy birthday Aerin, happy birthday Aerin...” The melody continued as Aerin approached the stairs where a black-haired man was seated, his backing facing her. Aerin's eyes crinkled into crescent shapes and her lips formed into a grin. “Happy birthday, happy birthday… happy birthday, Aerin.” The music came to a stop as the male stood up, turning around to face her with the same smile that he always gave her—one of pure affection. “Happy eighteenth birthday, Aerin,” Luhan said, wrapping his arms around Aerin’s small frame.

Completely pushing aside all of her bad thoughts, Aerin stifled a laugh and hugged him back. “But Luhan, it’s not even my birthday yet.” She pulled away after a couple of seconds and sat down on the first step, dragging Luhan down to sit with her.

“True,” Luhan said, locking the screen of his makeshift piano on his phone before turning to Aerin. “But it doesn’t hurt to greet you beforehand, right? It makes me the first one who greets you for your birthday.”

Aerin shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Nuh-uh. That one doesn’t count since, as I’ve said, it’s not my birthday yet. You should greet me at exactly 12 midnight if you want to be the first one who’ll greet me.”

“Can’t you just act as if I’m the first one for this year too?” Luhan