“He’s cute and charming,” Jessica said. She was talking about their professor in PE1.

“I don’t know but something’s telling me that he’s going to be one of those terror teachers,” stated Hyoyeon.

“You have to believe Hyo when she says something like that. Her knack of looking beyond people’s façade is amazing,” her best friend said.

“So you’re saying that his smiling face is just a front?” Yoona asked.

“Yes,” answered Hyoyeon.

“But he’s so cute!” Sunny said with much aegyo.

“Cute does not mean he’s not the next Hitler,” Hyoyeon said, her eyes were like daggers piercing through each of them.

“You are so random, Hyo,” Jessica said.


---


Tiffany and Yuri got out of the kitchen and went to the living room. They still have an hour and a half left before their next class.

Yuri heard a knock and stood up to get the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by a short and plump lady.

“Kim Shin Young,” the lady introduced herself. She was smiling and her eyes are almost non-existent but it wasn’t like Tiffany’s smile. This lady’s smile is similar to a kid’s smile that just did something mischievous. “Where’s Taeyeon?” She didn’t give Yuri a chance to answer and let herself in. “Taeyeon-ah!! Taeyeon-ah!”

“Sorry but she’s not here. Do you need anything from her?”

“Good. I’d like to surprise her for her birthday.” She signalled a few men to bring the boxes she brought with her inside the house.

“It’s her birthday today? How come that twerp didn’t tell us? Aish!” Tiffany exclaimed.

“Maybe that’s why she was in such a good mood this morning. Everyone was sleepy except for her. She was all giddy,” said Yuri.

“Maybe,” Tiffany smiled.

That is definitely not the case. She was happy because Jessica talked to her that morning.

Yuri turned to Shinyoung, “What’s your name again? I didn’t get it the first time.”

“Kim Shin Young.”

“Are you related to Taeyeon?”

“Are you from Korea? Are you really Korean?” Shinyoung asked.

“I—“

“You think just because we have the same surname that we’re related?” Shinyoung scoffed.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way,” Yuri apologized.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,” Shinyoung continued. She looked really ticked off.

“I’m really—“

Shinyoung raised her palm in front of Yuri’s face making her stop. “We are related. She’s my sister’s daughter.”

“Why you—“ Yuri was ready to tackle the lady but Tiffany pulled her shirt back.

“You don’t look like her, though. Are you sure she’s related to you? I mean, if I would base it on your height, then maybe you are related to her. But if I base it on your looks,” she paused and held Shinyoung’s chin up, “I don’t think so.” Tiffany shook her head.

Yuri laughed and held her fist up. Tiffany understood and the two of them did a fist bump while laughing at Shinyoung.

“Yah! I’m older than you two!”

“We can see that. Look at the lines on your face, it shows how much you’ve age,” said Yuri.

The two had another round of laughing fit. Shinyoung was touching her face. She was trying to relax her creased eyebrows to lessen the lines on her face. “Yah! Stop it! I could expel you from this school! I’m part of the board,” Shinyoung said arrogantly.

Tiffany and Yuri stopped laughing, realizing that Shinyoung was serious.

“What would be your grounds for expelling us?” Tiffany asked, trying hard to pretend that she’s not fazed by Shinyoung’s threat.

She went closer to Tiffany’s face until the latter can feel her breath on her neck.

“Listen here, you,” she paused and sniffed Tiffany, “I can smell fear oozing out of that creamy white skin of yours. And your eyes. Your eyes tell me that you fear me.”

What the hell is this lady trying to do?

“I don’t need a reason for expelling students. If you really need one, I’ll make one. I could ask someone to plant prohibited things in your locker and in this house. I’ll make sure—“

Now, it was Yuri’s turn to pull Tiffany’s shirt back. She stood in front of Shinyoung with her back facing Tiffany. “I just recorded what you said on my phone,” she waved her phone in front of Shinyouing’s face.

Shinyoung was flabbergasted. This kid is smart. I like it!

The truth was Yuri didn’t record anything.

Shinyoung changed her demeanor and smiled again, “Aish! I’m just kidding! I’m not even part of the board. Let’s start with a clean slate, yes? I’m just here to surprise our Taengoo!”

The two were doubtful at first but agreed. Shinyoung looked like someone whom they could trust with their lives.

Shinyoung told them her plans for the surprise party for Taeyeon and the two cooperated like the incident earlier never happened. It was almost time for their next class and the two said their goodbyes to their new found friend, Shinyoung.

They’ve already called the others and let them know about Shinyoung’s plans.


---


“Good thing Ji eun-unnie agreed to distract her so we could buy her gifts. I cannot believe she didn’t tell us,” Sunny said while they were in the mall, looking for a suitable gift for Taeyeon.

“I bet she didn’t want to treat us food. That stingy little person,” Sooyoung said.

“I agree. Aww…you said food. Now I’m hungry,” Yoona pouted.

“You’re always hungry and you’re always thinking about food,” said Seohyun who was walking beside her.

“You want to go grab some food first, Yoong?” Jessica asked.

“Let’s finish looking for a gift, first.”

Jessica nodded.

They continued looking for a gift but failed.

Jessica got fed up going around in circles in the mall. “I know, let’s buy cakes, there are eight of us so let’s buy eight cakes and as a surprise…” she paused in order to catch everyone’s attention, “…let’s throw the cake on her face all at the same time!” she suggested. Jessica was glowing when she said that. She was so enthusiastic that the others imagined the word “SADIST” written on her forehead.

Hyoyeon and Sooyoung seemed to agree while Sunny and Yoona were contemplating on Jessica’s suggestion. Seohyun was the only sane person there.

“You guys, it’s Taeyeon-unnie’s birthday. I don’t think she’ll like it if we do that.”

Hyoyeon remembered something and said, “I think if Jessica did that it’d be fine but if we did that, we’d get a glimpse of hell.”

Sunny hit Hyoyeon’s shoulder and glared at the girl, reminding her not to spill the birthday girl’s big secret.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jessica asked and the two shorter girls shook their heads, “You two are officially on the ‘fishy list’ with Taeyeon. I’ll be watching you.”

“Okay! Let’s go get the cakes!” Yoona said.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah but I think we should only get four cakes. Four layers of cake in her face would be enough. If we buy eight cakes, the ‘dwarf’ might drown,” Yoona said while giggling. Sooyoung, Seohyun and Jessica followed while the two complained.

“Yah! You guys are making such a big fuss about her height,” Sunny said.

“Yeah, she’s not even that short!” Hyoyeon added.

“You two just can’t accept the fact that you have the same height as that dwarf. Great, more help for Snow White. There are now ten of you guys,” Sooyoung said grinning.

“YAH!” the shorties shouted in unison.

So Seohyun, Yoona and Jessica went to the cake shop while the rest went to find another gift for Taeyeon just in case she doesn’t like being caked. Are you kidding me? Who doesn’t like icing on their faces, right?


---


After an hour, the six of them met up at the parking lot. Sooyoung’s group was carrying a large paper bag.

“What did you get her?” Jessica asked.

“These two,” Sooyoung pointed at Hyo and Sunny, “got her a Slowpoke plush toy and a bear named Jessica.”

“Why would you two get her a bear named after me?”

“Don’t be so conceited. It was cute and it was purely coincidental that its name is Jessica,” Hyoyeon said.

Sunny was laughing on the inside. She thought of this clever inside joke when she remembered what they talked about in the gym earlier.

“Why did you buy her a sleeping Slowpoke plush toy?” asked Yoona.

“To be honest, Slowpoke is not the prettiest pokemon when it’s conscious. So we bought this one,” answered Sooyoung. She stared at the boxes carried by Yoona, “Let us see the cake.”

“Here,” Yoona handed it over to the three, “We asked them to put our names on top of it.”

“HyoSun? YulTi? SeoSoo? And Yoonsic? What the hell?” Sunny said, her eyebrows creased as she read the names.

“Unnie, we’re supposed to put the full names of the roommates but it’s too expensive. They asked us to pay for each letter and we didn’t bring a lot of cash,” Seohyun explained.

“Oh~” the three said. They got inside the car and drove off.


---


At their house, Tiffany and Yuri just arrived from their class. They saw that Shinyoung was almost done with the decorations. Yuri helped with the food again and Tiffany helped with the decors.

The other girls arrived and told Yuri and Tiffany their plan. Their evil plan to get Taeyeon caked. Like the other two, the six of them were shocked to know that Shinyoung is related to Taeyeon. All of them got along quite well with Shinyoung who’d crack a joke every minute.

When everything was done and when they were sure that everything is ready, they gave the signal to Ji-eun to bring Taeyeon home.


---


“Unnie, thank you for the gift,” Taeyeon said as she was looking at the guitar she’s carrying on their way to the front door. “To be honest, I really forgot that it’s my birthday today.”

“You did? What kind of… Nevermind.”

She opened the door and entered the house with Ji-eun in tow. She was surprised to see balloons everywhere, tied on some poles and scattered around the house. She saw her housemates wearing party hats and Yuri, Sooyoung and Yoona were spraying her face with silly strings. On the wall, there was a massive tarp that says “Happy 8th Birthday, Taeyeon!”

There was a problem with the printer. Shinyoung’s tarp was a fail. She placed her index finger beside the “8th”. Other than that, it was a successful surprise party. It’s what every child would want. A perfect children’s party for the 18 year old Taeyeon.

They all sang “Happy Birthday, Taeyeon” including Ji-eun. The roommates were holding their small cakes and got closer to Taeyeon. When the song ended, Shinyoung and Ji-eun went beside Taeyeon and held both of her arms, just in case. Sunny and Hyoyeon were the first ones to cake Taeyeon. They let her blow out the candles first. Right before she stand upright again, the two pushed the cake upwards and it collided with Taeyeon’s face. Taeyeon’s face was filled with white frosting.

She tried to break free from their hold but failed miserably. It was now Yuri and Tiffany’s turn. They were carrying a chocolate cake. They immediately dumped the cake on Taeyeon’s face. Second layer successfully placed.

Seohyun and Sooyoung were the third ones to get Taeyeon caked. They had a strawberry cake. Again, it was a success. There’s pink frosting on top of chocolate frosting, on top of vanilla frosting on Taeyeon’s face.

“Sorry, Taeyeon-unnie,” Seohyun apologized.

It was now Yoona and Jessica’s turn but the two short girls have another brilliant idea. They said that Jessica should be the only one to dump the last cake on Taeyeon’s face since it was her idea. Yoona agreed and let Jessica do it by herself. Seeing as Yoona wanted her to do it, she did. The result was Taeyeon’s face covered with yet another layer of cake frosting. This time, it was a little zesty since it came from a lemon chiffon cake.

She brushed the frosting covering her eyes and the person she saw in front of her was none other than Jessica.

I don’t mind getting caked ALL the time so long as she’s the one doing it.

“Happy Birthday, Taengoo-ah,” Jessica greeted. She was laughing at how ridiculous Taeyeon looked like.

“Let’s take a picture!!” Sunny suggested.

Sunny moved to Taeyeon’s side and Hyoyeon moved to Jessica’s side. The two were standing close to each other. Right before the photo was taken. The two shorties pushed Taeyeon and Jessica’s head closer to each other. That resulted to Jessica getting caked, as well.

They thought about the worst case scenario when they did that but what happened next shocked them. Instead of Jessica unleashing hell on earth, she continued laughing. She wiped the side of her face that has frosting with her index finger and put frosting on Hyo’s face.

Everyone was surprised, excluding Shinyoung because she’s a new acquaintance, with Jessica’s reaction. There was a few seconds of silence before they all erupted in fits of laughter.


---


After the laughter died down, they proceeded on eating the dishes prepared by Shinyoung and Yuri. They had kimchi, kimbap, and ddukboki. Tiffany sneakily ordered for pizza and spicy chicken wings earlier when Shinyoung and Yuri weren’t looking. They all enjoyed the small party for Taeyeon.

It was time for giving their gifts. They gave the unwrapped gift to Taeyeon. It was the Slowpoke plush toy and the Teddy Bear.

Sunny and Hyoyeon were all smiles when they saw Taeyeon’s reaction. She immediately got their inside joke and she couldn’t help but to blush.

Jessica noticed this and asked, “Taengoo-ah, why is your face turning red?”

“She’s blushing, duh!”Sunny said, still smiling like her face was going to rip in half.

“Thank you, everyone. Shinyoung-unnie, for preparing this and Tiffany and Yuri for helping her. Ji eun-unnie for the guitar and you guys for these,” she pointed at the plush toys. “This is one of the happiest birthdays I’ve ever had. Thank you.

“We know why you’re really happy, Taengoo,” Hyoyeon said which made most of the people inside the room ponder.

After the little party ended, Shinyoung and Ji-eun bid farewell and the girls were left to clean up. Taeyeon and Jessica went to their room to clean the mess on their faces. Taeyeon was the first one to use their shared bathroom. When she got out, she saw Jessica sitting on the edge of her bed.

“You were taking so~ long I almost fell asleep.”

“Sorry,” Taeyeon bowed.

When she was about to walk away, Jessica stopped her.

“You still have a frosting right here,” Jessica wiped the remaining frosting on Taeyeon’s ear. “There. All gone.” She flicked Taeyeon’s ear and the latter could help but to let out a yelp. “You never even bothered to mention that it was your birthday. We could’ve prepared better foods.”

Taeyeon pouted, “You don’t even know how to cook.”

“That’s not even the point,” Jessica retorted, “you know what? I won’t tell you when my birthday is. I shall get revenge,” she smirked before she entered the bathroom and slammed the door.

“I already know when you’re birthday is. Heck, I even know where you were born,” Taeyeonmumbled.

Then she remembered the two schemers, Hyo and Sunny.

I have to treat those guys to lunch everyday for the rest of my four years in college.

She smiled and looked at the gifts from her friends. Even if I fail on making Jessica fall for me, I still think the decision of being in this house is probably the best choice I have ever made.

She hugged the plush toys tightly and painted a picture of her new found friends in her mind.

I’m the luckiest student in IU to have those girls as my housemates.