Chapter 12:

“Whose house is this?” Yul stared at his young teenage companion. “Why is it so dark?”

“Surprise!!!!!” yelled everyone as they jumped out of their hiding spot.

The tall lad jumped and felt his heart stop briefly, “OMO!”

“Happy Birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday our dear Kkabyul~ Happy birthday to you!!” everybody sang at the top of their lungs.

Taeyeon came around the corner carrying a cake with candles all around. He smiled brightly and let out a chuckle when he saw the look of shock on Yul’s face. “Happy birthday best friend, make a wish!”

He closed his eyes and made a wish. Tears were welling up in his eyes as he was looking at his friends. “You guys remembered… all this time I thought you guys forgot my birthday!”

“Someone is being emotional!” called out Yoong. Everyone chuckled.

“Thank you guys so much for doing this for me,” Yul smiled widely.

The group all walked towards Tiffany’s kitchen, which was unsurprisingly large and quite modern. They placed the cake in the middle of the island and Taeyeon grabbed a knife to start cutting the cake. Taeyeon cut the first slice for Yul before cutting everyone slices of the cake. The cake was Yul’s favorite flavor, Red Velvet.

“When did you guys plan all this?” Yul asked as he ate his cake.

Tiffany stood beside him and smiled widely, “Taeyeon came up with the idea on Monday and then I offered to host,”

Yul blushed and bowed earning him a playful slap by Tiffany. “Yah! Don’t bow!”

“I really appreciate this Tippani…”

Little did he know Tiffany was trying to hide her own blush.

The other side of the room, someone caught the eyes of Taeyeon. He picked up a plate with cake and walked over to a sulking figure in the living room. “I’m surprised to see you here,”

“Well… I came for Tiffany,” her voice was cold, but it didn’t bother Taeyeon.

“Well, that’s sweet of you. Thanks for coming to hang out with us for Yul’s birthday even if your intentions were for Tiffany,” Taeyeon smiled as he handed her the plate.

The blonde reluctantly took the slice of cake as she eyed the young lad who took a seat on the couch beside her. A sigh escaped her lips.

“So… how are you and Taecyeon?”

“We’re okay, thanks” her voice seemed annoyed but Taeyeon still wanted to start a conversation.

“That’s good. How is the ankle?”

“A lot better, thanks” she wanted the conversation to be over.

Irritated, Taeyeon looked at Jessica, “You know Jessica-shi I’m just trying to be friendly. You may not like me, but you could at least try to get along with everyone else or act like you care,” with that said he stood up and stomped away leaving her stunned.

Never has anyone ever confronted her like that. Tiffany has confronted her about her life choices, but not strangers or acquaintances. She eyed the shaggy haired lad. He was never affected by her coldness. She wasn’t going to lie, but it was actually refreshing.

“Hayeon-ah, you helped with this?” Yul looked at his friend’s little sister.

She grinned from ear to ear, “Taeyeon oppa promised that if I helped, I would be able to come here,”

Right on cue, Taeyeon stood next to his sister and ruffled her hair. “Oppa!” she whined frantically fixing her hair in front of his brother’s group of friends. They all laughed.

“Seohyun, Krystal, Nicole, Sunny,and Jessica-shi,” Taeyeon looked at the group of girls. “Meet my little sister Hayeon,”

The group minus Jessica couldn’t help but smile and squeal at how adorable she was. Hayeon was happy to be able to meet more high schoolers. She was going to be popular for this. Because her brother goes to such a prestigious high school, her brother’s friends were rather popular as they came from very wealthy families. Especially the Choi brothers and her beloved Tiffany Unnie.

“You’re so cute! You look just like your oppa,” Sunny cooed pinching Haeyeon’s cheeks.

“But I’m cuter right unnie?” Hayeon joked causing everyone to laugh.

“Yah!”

···

A week had passed since the events and everything was back to “normal”. They continued on their afterschool activities and their work schedules for some. Additionally, they were also cramming to study for their finals next week to conclude their semester and head off to winter break.

Except, a group of friends were a little concerned over their favorite kid leader. After that day, they were noticing how sluggish and exhausted he was becoming. He was beginning to fall asleep in class which was something they’ve never witnessed. Along