“Sh.”

“Stop talking!”

People were busy shushing those beside them as they were crouched underneath and hidden behind something. The lights were all turned off while cameras were as it was set all over the place, especially near the entrance of the ballroom. It was an intense moment for everyone as no one wanted to ruin the small opening surprise for the two birthday boys. Keeping quiet was killing everyone because of the amount of time everyone had to remain in their ‘secret’ hiding place. Hiding underneath or behind something was no necessary since the lights were turned off but Chanyeol and Chen insisted that everyone should do it as told. So, everyone obliged.

“They’re coming!” Suho hollered in a whisper before hiding behind the pillar beside the entrance.

Rustling noises were heard on the other side of the door, which got everyone tensed up as they stayed still as possible. The door gradually creaked opened as lights from the hall illuminated into the ballroom. Two figures appeared between the door frames and before I knew it, everyone jumped out of their hiding spots, yelling and shouting “surprise” loudly with their arms thrown in the air. The lights were turned back on as some of the males in the room took charge with the cameras, moving them in closer to the birthday boys.

The scene across from me was beyond beautiful. Well, to me, it was. The birthday boys were smiling ear-to-ear as people were starting to gather around. They were center of the attention, which was the whole point of the party. Many were giving them bear hugs, a couple of pats on the shoulder, and some were kindly throwing birthday greetings. It was nice seeing Kyungsoo enjoying the moment despite the fact that he said he didn’t want a party. Birthday parties are a must, even if the birthday person, themselves, had said they don’t want one.

“Come and give me some sugar, baby!!”

Looking over to my right, I found Chanyeol and Baekhyun attacking the birthday boys. Their arms were tightly wrapped around the two, squishing them in a group hug. People that witnessed the group hug ended up laughing contently as they adored the lovely friendship going on in the room. What was even more astounding to me was the look on the birthday boys’ faces. They were cringing with furrowed eyebrows as they tried their best to wiggle their way out of the two older boys’ embrace. Of course, it wasn’t that possible since Baekhyun and Chanyeol were determined to not let go any time soon. They planned the group hug only just an hour before the party began.

“Get. Off. Hyung!” Kai groaned as he tried to pry Chanyeol off of him. “Come on!”

“Not until you hug me back, Jongin~” Chanyeol chimed as he tightened his arms around the others.

“I did hug you back!” Kai growled yet still laughed in between his words. “There! I just did!”

Chanyeol hummed as he shook his head. “You call that a hug!? Baek, let’s show them a real hug!”

Before I could spit out a laugh because of what they were shouting out, Chen had joined in, which made the birthday boys suffered even more. The two were center of the three, squirming and screaming at the closeness. Although they were screaming at the top of their lungs, they still laughed a couple of times. Indeed, with Chen’s help, the three managed to show Kyungsoo and Kai what a real group bear hug was like.

“Nuna.” Sehun brought himself to my side with two blue plastic cups in his hands. He turned slightly towards me and offered me one. “How long do you think it’ll last?”

I gladly took the cup and thanked him before facing the group. “Hmm, I’m not sure.” I took a sip of the drink and let out a fresh ‘ah.’ “Maybe until someone pull them apart?”

Sehun scoffed. “I doubt anyone wants to pull them apart. I mean, look around.” He pointed at a couple of areas that the guests were standing at. He shook his head with a light chuckle. “The hyungs are giving everyone a great laugh.” He suddenly jolted beside me, startling me. He pointed in one direction, which made my eyes widened. “Look, even Suho hyung is joining!”

Yes. Suho had made himself apart of the group.

“Sehun, you’re the last person to join.”

He quickly shook his head as he took one step back. “I’m not going to.”

“Why?” I questioned, not understanding why he wasn’t joining in on the fun.

“I am not going to face Kyungsoo hyung’s wrath after he’s released.” He pouted. I didn’t quite understand what he was talking about. What wrath was he referring to? Kyungsoo was such a sweet guy. Probably one of the sweetest guys that I’ve ever met. Sehun cleared his throat as he shook his head once more as he brought himself back to my side. He let out a sigh, “No way.”

“O-Oh. Okay.” I was so confused.

-

“Hey.”

Baekhyun brought himself into my line of sight with a small smile on his face. He got closer to me, leaving a decent space between us, and leaned against the balcony rail that I was leaning on. He clasped his hands together as his forearms were resting above the rail. His eyes were looking straight ahead, at the beautiful city lights that I have been staring at for the past couple of minutes after I excused myself from the wild party inside. He let out a quiet sigh but I managed to hear it. He turned his head slightly and fixed his eyes on me. All of his attention was on me.

“What are you doing out here, alone?” He softly asked before facing back to the city lights.

“I don’t know.” I let out a soft laugh before looking at him. At his side profile. “Fresh air?”

He grinned and faced me, which made me quickly faced the front. “Is that really it?”

“Yes.”