“Happy Biiiiirthday to youuu!”

           “Happy Biiiiiirthday to youuuuu!”

           “Happy Biirthday Daehyun and Daehyuuuuuuuk!”

           “Happy Birthday to Youuuuuuuu!!!!”

           We all sang (horribly off key and not quite together) to the little birthday boys. It was their 4th birthday and we were celebrating at the weekly meeting. Later, we were all going to go to the ceremony for them to get their yellow belts in Taekwondo. As Daehyuk had put it, it was “the bestest birthday in the history of forever!”.

           “Alright kiddos, make a wish and blow out your candles!” Jongdae said to his sons, scooting the two giant birthday cakes (chocolate for Daehyuk, strawberry for Daehyun) towards them.

           “Appa!” Daehyun scolded. “We aren’t kiddos anymore!!”

           “Yea!” Daehyuk agreed. “We are four now! We are men! Real men!”

           “But Daehyuk!” Minseok said, feigning surprise and raising an eyebrow. “Real men don’t pull peoples’ pants down!”

           “Yea!” Jongdae nodded. “They also don’t make personal requests to the tooth fairy requesting 20 dollars…” He shot me an annoyed look but I just widened my eyes and tried to look as innocent as possible.

           “Real men don’t even like cake!” Kris teased, but this was apparently the final straw.

           “WE LIKE CAKE!!!” The twins shouted in unison before both squeezing their eyes shut and blowing out the half-burnt out candles on their respective cakes.

           “What did you wish for?” Jaehan asked as soon as they were done and Jongdae began slicing up the cakes.

           “It’s a secret!” Daehyun said. “We can’t tell!”

           “But I won’t tell anyone!” Jaehan pleaded.

           “Yes he will!” Jihye shouted. “Jaehan is a blabber mouth!”

           “Am not!”

           “Am too!”

           “Ah, young love.” Baekhyun sighed as he bounced a giggly Baekha on his knee.

           “What??!” Jihye and Jaehan yelled in unison.

           “Jaehan, rule number one with women: don’t argue with them.” Chanyeol said. “You will always, always, lose.”

           “Cheers to that.” Baekhyun said with a nod.

           “Yisoo, what cake do you want?” Junmyeon asked, offering me a chocolate and a strawberry.

           “I’ll take strawberry, thanks!” I said, taking the heaping plate from him.

           “Jongin, you?” Junmyeon asked Jongin, who was sitting at my side.

           “Um, I’ll just take the chocolate, thanks Hyung.” He mumbled.

           Jongin had been awkward with me ever since the night of Hyein’s incident. I wasn’t sure if it was because he had confessed and I hadn’t answered, or if it was because we shared the cot that night and I acted like it was no big deal. In the moment, it had seemed like the right thing to do. But if I had known it would make him go rigid and flustered whenever he looked at me, I never would’ve suggested it. He had walked into the meeting room with Kyungsoo and I and when he saw me, his eyes had widened like he had seen a ghost. Kyungsoo, being the oblivious brother that he is, didn’t seem to notice any on his unusual body language (bless his introverted soul). But for the past hour, Jongin hadn’t had so much as even looked at me. We accidently bumped legs when he had to take the only seat available (next to me), and I swear the look on his face made it seem as though he had peed himself.

           “Hurry and eat up guys, we have to be at their belt ceremony in twenty minutes!” Jongdae said, frantically shoveling cake into his mouth.

           “Relax, Jongdae.” Junmyeon said. “We have plenty of time.”

           “Junmyeon hyung, it’s birthday week. We’re all a bit on edge.” Baekhyun snapped

           “Birthday week?” I asked.

           “Birthday week.” Luhan explained. “The second biggest reason why December is the most stressful month of the year. The twins are today, the 10th. Jinnie’s 5th birthday is tomorrow, the 11th. Then Dahye turns 4 the 13th, Baekha is 2 the 14th, and Sehee is one year old the 16th.”

           “Wow. Did you all plan that?” I joked.

           “Did we plan to make December the most NOT wonderful time of the year?” Baekhyun huffed. “No. As if Christmas was not enough, we have 6 birthdays to celebrate and plan too. Do you know how much cake and presents that is?? All the fat from my wallet is going straight into my thighs… not that there was much there to begin with anyway… but still… I’ll need a miracle to get through this December.”

           “But it’s such a wonderful season of giving and sharing!” Junmyeon sang and Bing accidently (or on purpose, it was hard to tell) shoved a big piece of cake in the man’s mouth. Yixing tried, and failed, to suppress his laughter.

           “Someone has been is a great mood lately.” Tao mused, wiggling his eyebrows.

           “What do you mean?” Yixing asked.

           “Don’t act so innocent! I saw you walking Miyeon home from your date the other day. Same apartment building, remember?” Tao said.

           “Yixing, you’re dating Miyeon???” Luhan yelled and stood up.

           “Oh, well… kind of that’s what happened…” Yixing mumbled.

           “Miyeon noona likes Daddy.” Bing said suddenly.

           “What was that Bing?” Luhan asked.

           “Noona likes Daddy a lot. She said to me!” Bing said again.

           “Does she now?” Luhan said calmly, sitting back down. “Hey, congrats, Yixing. You two look good together.” He looked a little hurt still, but I think he understood.

           It’s ok, Luhan. I reassured him in my mind. You’ll find someone better for you than Miyeon.

           “Sorry, Hyung. I was going to tell you all soon…” Yixing began.

           “It’s fine! Really!” Luhan tried to act collected. “I actually met this girl the other day on my way home from work, I was thinking of giving her a call…”

           There was a moment of awkward silence as no one really knew what to say.

           “So, um,” Junmyeon started. “So the talent show is a week away! I know we can’t wait to see Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s duet, and us doing the ballet are very excited to show you what we have been working on so far! I was wondering how everyone’s else father-child bonding activities have been going? They should be wrapping up soon, I would think.”

           “Well you know the boys are getting their yellow belts later today!” Jongdae beamed at his sons, who were currently trying to see who could shove more cake into his mouth. (Daehyun was winning.)

           “I have been cooking a lot with Sehee too!” Sehun added. “I made seaweed soup with Kyungsoo hyung the other day and she loved it!”

           “He’s actually getting a lot better.” Kyungsoo assured. “Even Kyungbin ate his cooking, and he’s a pretty picky eater.”

           “That’s great!” Junmyeon cheered. “Minseok, Tao, how have your activites been going?”

           “Have you two even been doing activities?” Chanyeol scoffed.

           “Yea, we haven’t heard a peep from you two since it started!” Luhan added.

           “You will all find out about Jin and I’s project tomorrow at the birthday party.” Minseok replied. “Just be patient. We’ve actually really enjoyed doing this together.”

           “Sure.” Sehun replied, not sounding entirely convinced. “Tao? How’s your imaginary project been going?”

           “It’s not imaginary!!” Tao huffed. “Ask Kris! Him and Ace have been helping me with it lately.” All heads turned to Kris, who was spooning cake into Ace’s mouth, trying to ignore the prying glares.

           “It’s real guys, trust me.” Kris said. “We were planning on showing you all after the talent show.”

           “So we can see it?” Luhan asked.

           “Yea, it’s like a big wall of-“ Kris began before Tao started waving his hands and shushing him.

           “Don’t spoil the surprise!!!!!” Tao scolded.

           “Alright, alright, calm down I won’t.” Kris replied.

           “Guys, ten minutes!!” Jongdae shouted as he checked his phone. “We really need to go!”

           We cleaned up the room quickly and soon were embarking on the short walk over to the Taekwondo center about a block away. On the walk, I tried to get next to Jongin and talk to him, but Sehun had already pulled him into a dramatic conversation about this article he had read online about babies being able to have visions of the future, and Kara and Jihye had insisted I walk with them.

           “Alright guys, you all wait over there in the chairs, I have to go with the boys to the front because I get to present them with their belts!” Jongdae ordered as we filed into the dojo. I turned around as I heard a familiar voice come in from the door behind us.

           “Sorry I’m late!” Miyeon said as she ran into the room.

           “Miyeon!” I said, turning around in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

           “Yixing invited me!” She said with a wink. Soon, she caught Yixing’s eye and abandoned me to go join him in a seat near the front of the room. When she sat down, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before becoming completely absorbed in saying hello to Bing. Bing immediately opened up to her, smiling the widest smile I had ever seen and launching into a huge dramatic story about something that had happened that morning.

           “Jealous?” Kyungsoo popped up beside me, making me jump.

           “What?” I asked a bit too quickly. “Of course not! Why would you say that?”

           “Don’t act like I don’t know.”

           “Know what?” I said again as my brother pulled me off to the side of the room.

           “I came back home the other night and you were gone. The next day, Jongin and I had a very interesting phone call and today, don’t think I didn’t notice how you two were acting to each other. I’m not as oblivious as you think, Yisoo.”

           “… What did you two talk about, exactly?” I asked in a whisper.

           “Well, first he told me about Hyein. I’m glad she’s alright. But then, he told me about how you came after he called you and stayed with him until the morning. And about how he had said something very important to you.”

           I sighed, trying to read the expression on my brother’s face. As usual, he was a closed book.

           “Oppa, what am I supposed to do?” I pleaded finally.

           “You’re asking me?” He replied. “Don’t leave him hanging! I know you, Yisoo. You have trouble believing people when they say things like this to you, things that come straight from the heart. But Jongin isn’t kidding around here. And the longer you don’t say something, the worse it’s going to get.”

           “But, I don’t know…” I began.

           “Don’t know what?” Kyungsoo asked. “If you have feelings for him? Yisoo, I know you do. As much as you don’t want to admit it to yourself, you do. I can see it written all over your face. You smile the brightest when you talk to him, you laugh the loudest when he cracks a joke, you sit next to him more than me at the meetings it seems.”

           Had I really done all that? I asked myself. I hadn’t even noticed.

           “Yisoo, I’m your big brother.” Kyungsoo continued. “The last thing I want to happen is for you to get a boyfriend, it’s my job to hate any other guy who so much as looks at you. But I can make one exception, and one exception only, and that’s for him.”

           Kyungsoo looked at me for one more moment before turning to go find a seat with Kyungbin. I stayed by the wall a little while longer as thoughts raced through my mind.

           The more I thought back to the moments I had had with Jongin, the more the pieces began to fall into place. How I always volunteered to babysit when it was his duty, how I almost instinctively sat next to him at every meeting, how I rushed to Hyein’s side the second she ever cried out. It was all for him. Every move I had made, all the words I said, they were all to get closer to him. My body and subconscious had been working together on something I had been completely oblivious to, except I wasn’t so blind anymore. I saw it. I liked Jongin. I really, really did.

           And I knew what I had to do.

           “Jongin.” I whispered to him, as I tapped on his shoulder. He was sitting in a seat in the back.

           “Yea?” He asked and turned around, his face dropped when he saw it was me.

           “Can you come with me for a minute?” I asked.

           “Now? It’s about to start…” Jongin replied.

           “Just come, please?” I pleaded. He quietly got up and I lead him out the front door. The winter wind hit my face as I shivered but I ignored it as I held Jongin’s hand and dragged him to a bus stop where we would be covered from the cold wind.

           “What is it, Yisoo?” Jongin asked as we sat on the bench. Luckily, there was no one else there (everyone with enough sense was inside given how cold it was).

           “I, I need to say something to you.” I stuttered, teeth chattering half from nervousness, half from the cold.

           “And you needed to say it outside… right now?” Jongin asked, noticing how cold I was. “Let’s just go back in… I don’t want to hear anything right now…”

           “NO!” I accidently shouted at him. He gave me a quizzical look as I smiled half heartedly and tried to laugh my awkward outburst off.

           “I mean, um, Jongin I need to talk to you now. About what you said to me the other night.”

           “You don’t need to say it out loud. I think I’ve gotten your answer pretty clear…” He said somberly.

           “No! That’s just it! You don’t!” I said a little excitedly. “I mean, I get how you might think you do, because I haven’t really been that friendly lately, but it’s just because… because…” I realized I hadn’t planned out how exactly I was going to say what I wanted to say.

           “Because…?” He asked.

           “Because I was oblivious to my own feelings. My feelings for you.”  I finally said. “I, ok I’m not that good at believing people when they tell me things that have to do with feelings and emotions. I guess I’m kind of like my brother that way, in that I find it easier a lot of the time just to ignore my heart because I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment. Does that make sense?”

           “Kind of… go on.” He said.

           “Ok, so like,” I stuttered again. He was staring at me with those serious brown eyes again and I felt like at any moment I would forget my own name. Focus, Yisoo. You can stare at his eyes all you want in a minute but right now you have to tell him how you feel.    

           “So this entire time, I hadn’t realized I was falling for you. I knew I liked you, but I never really thought about how much I liked you. And I never would’ve realized it on my own unless… unless you had confessed. Which you did, and it got me thinking about it all and… and…”

           And then it happened. Just like in all those sappy romantic comedy movies. Where the girl is trying to say something important, can’t seem to find the words, so the gorgeous male lead swoops in and just kisses her. Kisses her like she’s the only person in the world. Kisses her so that she forgets her own name.

           When he pulled away. I noticed his hands had found their place on my cheeks. I felt the cold tips of his fingers brush my cheekbones. As I opened my eyes, I saw his warm, brown ones staring back at me.

           He was about to pull away, but I took my hands and cupped them over his and leaned in again. This time, hoping to take his breath away instead of my own.

           When we broke away, I saw a smile tugging at the corners of his lips and I couldn’t help my smile too. We just sat there like that for a minute, faces just centimeters apart as our deep exhales mixed in the chilly air.

           “I like you, Jongin.” I finally said.

           “I like you, too.” He replied. “But, um, Yisoo?” He asked tentatively.

           “Yea?” I replied innocently.

           “Can we go back inside now?” He chuckled lightly. “I, um, I can’t feel my fingers.”

           “Oh yea!!!” I said, momentarily forgetting where we were. “Good idea.” I hopped off the bench and Jongin did the same. Instinctively, he grabbed my hand and pulled it into a pocket on his jacket as we walked back into the dojo.

           “Will Kim Daehyun and Kim Daehyuk please come forward?” I man in black robes announced at the front of the room as we slipped into seats in the back.

           The twins ran up from a line of other students in the back of the room, looking as adorable and mischevious as ever in their tiny white Taekwondo uniforms.

           “You have both made outstanding progress in the art of Taekwondo. We are pleased to present you with the next step in your journey to becoming a Taekwondo master, your yellow belts!” The man said as Jongdae appeared from his seat, holding two yellow belts. As he replaced the boys white belts with the yellow ones, we all clapped and cheered for the beaming twins.

           “Congratulations for our white belt graduates!” The man concluded and we all stood up to clap some more. Daehyun and Daehyuk were laughing and smiling as they began to chase each other and hit one another with the tails of their belts.

           “Boys! Stop that!” Jongdae scolded as he chased after them.

           “Jongdae, just let them be!” Luhan called to the younger boy. “Let them have some fun, it’s their birthday, after all.”

           “Fine.” Jongdae agreed as he came over to where the rest of the guys were standing near the back of the room. All the other graduates were with their families, proudly showing off their new yellow belts.

           “Oh there you two are!” Sehun said in surprise when he saw Jongin and I. “I looked away for a second and you two were gone! Where did you go?”

           “Oh, nowhere…” Jongin mumbled.

           “None of your concern!” I quipped.

           “Wait!” Minseok said suddenly. “I know that look. Did it finally happen? Is it a thing now?”

           “Is what a thing?” I asked.

           “It is!” Minseok exclaimed, ignoring my question. “Oi, hey Tao! It’s finally happened! Yisoo and Jongin are together!”

           “Well it’s about time!” Baekhyun replied for Tao as the two made their way over to the rest of the group.

           “Wait, you mean you guys saw this coming?”  Jongin sputtered in disbelief.

           “Well, I certainly noticed something going on between you two, but I wasn’t going to say anything.” Tao scoffed.

           “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything!” Jongin huffed.

           “I can’t believe this is a thing??!” Sehun whined. “Yisoo, are you two really together?”

           “Mhm!” I nodded, hoping he wasn’t disappointed at all.

           “Dang, Kai, I didn’t think you would ever finally tell her!” Sehun said, surprising me. “He’s been talking about you forever but I never thought he would man up and actually say something!”

           “Say something about what?” Miyeon asked as she and Yixing joined our group.

           “About Jongin and Yisoo becoming a couple.” Baekhyun replied.

           “WHAT??! YISOO! How come you didn’t tell me???!” Miyeon screamed.

           “Because it happened like 2 minutes ago!!!!” I yelled back. “Calm down!!!!!”

           “Calm down? Calm DOWN??! My best friend gets a boyfriend without telling me and I’m the last to find out and you want me to calm down??!” Miyeon continued, but Yixing took her hand and started whispering to her to calm down a bit.

           “I’m sorry… I’ll make sure to tell you before it happens next time.” I said with a hint of sarcasm, but Miyeon either didn’t get it or ignored it, because she continued to give me a dirty look.

           “Yea you better!” She scolded me before putting a smile back on her face. “Awww, but I’m so happy for you two!!”

           “Wait, so is this two couples in one week??” Chanyeol asked suddenly. “Junmyeon hyung, we need to get more girls in our single fathers club! It’s not fair only those two get girls!”

           “Chanyeol, do you realize the ridiculousness of your previous statement?” Junmyeon asked, but Chanyeol just shook his head. Before he could respond, Jongdae spoke up.

           “Hey guys, do you wanna take a group picture?” He offered with a smile. “The instructor can use my phone and I’ll send it to all of you.”

           We agreed and then proceeded to try to find an area that could accommodate the twenty plus people that would need to fit in the shot.

           “Aw! Chanyong you’re on my hair!” Dahye shouted.

           “I can’t see over Jaehan’s big head!” Jihye whined.

           “Bing, Ace! Stop crawling out of the picture!” Kris yelled.

           “Ow! Sehun, Sehee bit my finger!” Minseok said.

           “Scootch over Tao, Baekha is claustrophobic!” Baekhyun complained.

           “Umm… are you all ready?” The instructor asked with a worried look on his face.

           “Guys! Stop complaining for a minute and just smile!” Jongdae ordered.

           “Since when was he always in charge?” Luhan asked.

           “Just smile on three!” Junmyeon yelled. “One… two…”

           I stood crouched in between Kyungsoo and Jongin holding Hyein on the left side of the group. Behind me, Chanyeol and Tao were giving each other bunny ears as they tried to move over to give Baekhyun and Baekha enough space. Yixing and Miyeon were sitting cutely in front of me, with Bing on Yixing’s lap. The other kids were all scattered on the front sitting on the floor, joustling against each other as they tried to get comfortable being in such a close space together.

           “THREE!”

           “CHEEEESE!” We all yelled in unison.

           When I got the picture later that night in the group chat, I couldn’t help but laugh. Junmyeon was half blinking and Luhan’s head was turned, saying something to Minseok, so all that was visible was the back of his head. Sehun’s face was contorted in a weird grimace and I noticed Sehee biting on the sleeve of his shirt. Kris was in the middle of scolding Kara and Tao was preoccupied fixing Nabi’s hair. Half the kids weren’t paying attention to the picture being taken, and the other half had forgotten to smile.

The picture was anything but perfect. But in all its imperfections, it seemed to be absolutely right. And I wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ahh ok I can't write romantic fluff but I tried haha. But wow, reading all your comments make me really sad to end this fic :( But I am starting university soon and I really need to focus on my studies right now. I would love to continue this story line though! I have other ideas for it I want to write, just not right now. As just a random question, whose background stories did you like the best? :)