[Year 18 of Exile]

"Jen sweetheart, how was school today?"

I trudged into the kitchen through the back door, blatantly ignored grandpa’s question and walked out of the kitchen. Gramma hollered after me, "Jen Lee, your grandfather is asking you a question! Young lady!"

“It was okay!” I yelled back, not wanting to be rude but I guess shouting back was rude. Whatever. Kicking the door shut with my feet, I dumped my bag on the desk and flung myself onto my bed. I managed to withhold my breath for seconds before pushing my face out of the pillow with a sharp inhale.

Flipping myself onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling. It was adorned with numerous plastic glow-in-the-dark stars and moons, as well as photographs. The corners of my lips tugged upwards as they swept across the numerous dog-eared photographs. There was one that the parents shot of the thirteen of us; all of our arms linked with one another’s, though it took Kyungsoo’s father several glares towards the younger boys for them to comply. There was another of Chanyeol and I; his chin was resting atop of my head while I had on a pained expression and he a laughing one. Good times, good times.  

The fond smile continued to etch itself onto my face until it rested on a particular one purposely stuck in the corner. In it were a couple: the lady had brown locks and brown eyes and she was smiling radiantly, the man had brown hair too but his eyes were a beautiful sea-blue and he too was smiling at the camera with his arms wrapped around the lady. They stood in front of a house I didn't recognise and probably would never get to see. I gazed tenderly at them.

Mum, dad, I miss you wherever you guys are.

I sighed and to my side. My eyes dragged themselves to the calendar propped up on my desk, absentmindedly sweeping across the dates before landing on a circled number and my eyes closed in resignation. It's that time of the year again huh.

My birthday.

[Luhan]

“Um, what are we getting for her this year?"

I casually asked as I a green scarf on a female mannequin. The twelve of us were in the females' department in a shopping centre, deciding what to get for Jen's birthday present. I looked over to Kris, who was holding up a green hoodie and gazing at it intensely. The hoodie’s going to catch fire soon, but then again, he’s not Chanyeol. The others were strewn across the department, searching for what the birthday girl might like.

Sehun, who was beside me, piped up, "How about a one-way ticket for James Pigalle to hell!" He rubbed his hands maniacally as I smacked his arm lightly. "Oi! You can't say that aloud here!" I hissed, my eyes glaring at him and he hastily made a zipping-the-mouth action. I rolled my eyes, yet at the boy’s growing smile, I couldn’t help let my lips follow suit.

After watching Sehun bound off towards Kris, I walked over to the jewellery section and skimmed through the numerous shiny baubles. Jen's never the one for shiny stuff. Noticing a dingy case tucked away in a corner, I went to it. Something immediately caught my eye and I asked for the surprised salesperson to wrap it up for me.

“You got something already?” Kyungsoo strode over, his hands empty and a slight frown one his face. “I didn’t manage to find anything that would interest her.”

“You can always make her present,” I gently tousled his hair, earning myself a tch from the boy and I snickered softly. “She’d appreciate your cooking skills.”

His expression changed to that of a thoughtful one, as he followed me to the cashier where I paid. Swinging the small bag in one hand, I pulled Kyungsoo with the other and skipped (the boy slunk) over to Kris who was still eyeing the green hoodie.

"Hyung, just get it." Sehun snatched the hoodie from his hands and directed him to the cashier. I tried to suppress the rising snigger. Only he has the guts to do that to Kris. They returned with two bags to which I raised my brow at.

"I saw my gift at the counter! So I bought it." Sehun wiggled his brows and grinned. Just then Kris' phone rang and he answered it. With a nod at no one in particular, he slipped it back into his shirt pocket. "Suho's asking us to gather at the entrance of the store once we're done getting our gifts." We nodded and he spun on his heel and coolly strode towards the entrance. Like a puppy, Sehun trailed after him while Kyungsoo tugged gently at my arm. “Luhan-hyung, let’s go.”

“JENNNNNNNNNN LEEEEEEE!”

The door to my room burst open with a loud bang and my eyes flew open. From the corner of my eyes, I spied several heads filing in with small foreign objects in their hands. Aish, what on earth are they trying to do so early in the morning?!! I groaned and covered my face with my blanket, trying to shut out the racket that the boys were making.

“Yah, Sehun ah! Don’t pull it yet!”

“Xiumin-hyung! Kai stole my popper!! Kaiiii!”

“Is Jen awake? Yeol, go check on her.”

HOLY MOTHER OF NOISE I can’t take this any longer. Those boys need to shut up!

I shot up and was about to shout at them when I felt something poking at my chest. Looking down, it was a finger and I pursed my lips, mentally cursing. My eyes trailed the finger to the body and up to a face. I swore under my breath (with curses that I heard from that morning when Kris unleashed his colourful ‘vocabulary’) and resisted the urge to pun