♠ TWENTY-ONE ♠ 

♫What, what, what you want baby?
  What, what, what you want baby?♫

How perfectly apt that his current happy jam fit the current situation! This "re-engaging time" Lee Jungyeop had adviced him about Seulbi? It was taking forever!

Sungyeol managed to chance upon his coveted Epik High via unauthorized livestream and Woohyun had already come home. Still, Seulbi was showing no signs of being open to talking, and he couldn't exactly piece together why she was pissed off at him or what she wanted him to do about it. All of this put him in a foul mood. Girls were such cryptic species that took forever to decipher. And it's not like he was bound to get it correctly on the first try.

To top it off, he was hungry again from all the thinking and waiting.

Despite him having a full meal earlier, it had come to a point where the grumbling in his stomach couldn't be ignored. Sighing, Sunggyu shut off the music, made his way to the main kitchen, and rummaged through the fridge for something light to snack on. Reaching for the back of the fridge, he pulled out the remaining cup of imported pudding that Hoya and Sungyeol's parents had sent over from the States. Just when he threw his whole weight to shut the door, Seulbi was standing at the kitchen doorway with a dejected look on her face. And the first words that she had said to him after quite awhile:

"My pudding cup."

"Sorry?" 

"Pudding cup!" Seulbi wailed this time, grabbing a spoon from the nearest shelf with the intention to claim ownership by dunking it into the cup. Sunggyu immediately swatted her spoon away with his own spoon, and what started as a small tussle escalated into an all-out swashbuckling sword fight around the kitchen (with the use of spoons, of course). The prized pudding cup lay on the kitchen counter, temporarily forgotten as they fought over it.

“OW!” Seulbi yelped, dropping her spoon to nurse her forehead, which began stinging from Sunggyu’s sharp blow with his spoon. And while she was still processing being disarmed by a cheap move, he took the liberty of time and went ahead, off the whole top surface. Seulbi was instantly horrified. “You did not— Sunggyu, that was the last pudding cup from America!”

“I it already so it’s mine now, sorry! Finders keepers."

“YOU are the human equivalent of a migraine! MOVE!”

He quickly side-stepped to make way for a simmering Seulbi and now that she was gone, Sunggyu proceeded to enjoy the rest of the hard-earned gooey chocolatey goodness. That could be a good start, they were back to bickering now! The cup was almost halfway gone when he felt the hair on the back on his neck start to stand, his senses heightening at some sort of looming danger. From his peripheral vision, he could finally see it. Lee Seulbi was charging towards him with a broom in hand.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. This just made a turn for the worse.

"What the--? Put that down!" Sunggyu squeaked. He'd have to be Bruce Lee to get out of this alive. His weapon of choice was obviously outclassed. There was no way a tiny spoon could defend against a broom. "Lee Seulbi, don't you dare!"

Seulbi didn’t say anything, instead letting out an almighty cry as she swung the broom down on him. Sunggyu had fortunately managed to evade the blow and broke into a run, skidding past the door towards the dining table and out into the opposite hallway, heading for their backyard. Seulbi wasted no time and immediately begun the chase.

“LEE SEULBI, HAVE YOU FINALLY LOST YOUR MIND?” Sunggyu yelled, managing to grab the nearest item to defend himself, which was coincidentally an umbrella. With one swipe, he managed to parry the blow in the nick of time, signalling the resumption of earlier's sword fighting, this time with upgraded weaponry. Maids were shrieking, pleading for the two to stop while getting out of the way as the two turned the first floor of the mansion topsy-turvy.

By now, the Lee family had been alerted of the situation because of all the ruckus the two were creating. By the time they had reached the scene at the backyard garden, the two in question were prowling in dangerous circles, their respective weapons of choice at the ready, brandished at the other as some sort of threat.

"Just for one pudding cup, you're hell-bent on murdering me?!? Grow up!" Sunggyu gritted.

"I'll do so when I see you trying harder!" Seulbi spat.

“I’m going to say this for the last time. Put the ing thing down before I seriously hit you,” Sunggyu warned, repeatedly prodding at the air in the direction of Seulbi's face.

"What is your ing problem?” Seulbi gritted, knocking his umbrella away with one powerful swing of her broom just to make her point clear as well. Honestly, it had been strong enough to knock the umbrella out of Sunggyu's hands if he hadn't keep his guard up.

Sungjong stuck a finger into his ear. “Where’s the mute button when you need it? All this profanity is making my ears bleed.”

Meanwhile, over to the side, the rest had started convening, taking interest in the two's sudden death match for different reasons. “This duel to the death way, waaay better than I expected-- if only they were wielding lightsabers instead! I bet ten million won Sunggyu-hyung’s not going to make it out of this alive,” Sungyeol offered.

“I dunno, Yeol. Gyuzizi doesn’t look like it, but he has his bursts of brute strength in times of crisis,” Dongwoo pondered, recalling the time Sunggyu managed to help lift a barbel off of him in a jiffy when he had accidentally dropped it on himself. “Ten million won Gyu’s going to neutralise our little tyke and walk out of this the clean victor.”

“Alright, if we're all playing that way, ten million won they're going to knock each other unconscious for a draw,” Hoya grinned.

“Ten million won-- I can’t even afford this bet,” Sungjong murmured sadly.

“Whoops, sorry Sungjong! What do you say we twist it up just for you? We’ll pay it in terms of two week’s service. You win, we become your slaves at your disposal 24/7 and vice versa. So, what’s your call?”

“That neither of your outcomes will push through. This is all going to end with rainbows and ponies and fluff. You can throw a few hugs in there.”

The three ended up laughing at his fairytale-esque ending scene. Hoya reached out to ruffle the younger boy’s hair. “Jjongie, I hope you’re aware that you just signed your own death wish.”

“Just shake on the deal, Tinky Winky.”

"Oh my, are we talking trash now?"

“Alright, alright, break it," Sungyeol intervened before they could cut the blood supply of each other's hands off. "Ground rules! No intervening, no switching, and pay up immediately or its double the betting fee.”

Woohyun could only look at them with scorn, unable to believe that this conversation was seriously happening. “They’re going to kill each other out there and you’re SERIOUSLY betting on this?!?”

“Yup!”

God, these idiots were insufferable! All for personal gain and cheap entertainment! "Abeonim?!? Any time now?!?” Woohyun cried, turning to the only responsible adult amongst them that he could count on. Jungyeop was not listening to their conversation, a nostalgic twinkle in his eyes as he carefully watched the two play around from the sidelines.

After one small shift, the two finally charged at each other. The fencing duel was back on without a clear answer as to who was having the upper hand, each fighter showing no signs of throwing the towel in.

"This really reminds me of that dark, edgy music video that's been making waves lately!" Dongwoo piped.

"Which one?" Hoya asks.

"The one that goes 'Before the dawn, before the daaaaaawn!'?" Dongwoo replied, singing a small part of the song to help Hoya recognize it. It only succeeded in pissing off Woohyun even further.

"Dongwoo!"

In the end, Seulbi disregarded her broom, chucking it to the side, swiftly avoiding Sunggyu’s slow swing of the umbrella. Taking advantage of his poorly balanced stance, she managed to cleanly lock his arm and the back of his leg in, clenching the front of his shirt, going in for a full-on leg sweep. Sungyeol cheered as they watched Sunggyu being thrown to the ground. Sunggyu, ever adamant, managed to yank Seulbi's arm in the process, and she let out a loud, unexpected yelp, causing both Dongwoo and Hoya to yell out in supposed victory.


Seulbi opened her eyes to find staring into Sunggyu's small ones (which weren't so small now that he was staring wide-eyed), and at such close proximity too. It took her a few confused blinks before she could fully comprehend the situation and the position they were in. After his cheap move, she had instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck after she felt herself losing balance, and eventually she ended up toppling over him.

Well, this was awkward. Thankfully they didn't land lip on lip, because that would have been completely, absolutely wrong.

There was a familiar tightness in Seulbi's chest which she decided to ignore for the meantime as there were much pressing matters on hand. "Your eyeliner looks stupid up close," Seulbi commented in between light coughs, avoiding his gaze in an attempt to diffuse the awkward situation.

"Say that again to my face. Go on," Sunggyu challenged.

Before Seulbi could retaliate with a single sock to the jaw, she had been gently pried off Sunggyu by none other than her grandfather before he forced them into an awkward hug (a.k.a. weird tangle of limbs). "Okay kids, that's enough roughhousing for one day. Why don't you two make up like loving family members like this? You were already hugging each other anyway!"

“Great, that means I win! You can all start on Monday! I already have matching uniforms in mind!” Sungjong told them gleefully, much to the dismay of the other three.

<<<< >>>>

“Seulbi, a word."

Jungyeop had decided to talk to the two separately after the two outright refused to make up with each other, lest they really continued from where they really left off and really hurt each other in the process. The heiress nodded quietly and approached her grandfather's study desk. Jungyeop cleared his throat and motioned for her to sit down, which she obeyed. He stared at his granddaughter for a moment before speaking.

"What happened earlier?"

Seulbi huffed in contempt, "He hit me on the head with a spoon and the last pudding cup and I blew up in anger. So I threatened him with a broom. I didn't count on him fighting back, but he did. That's all there is to it."

"Really?"

"Maybe not. I don't want to talk about it just yet."

When his granddaughter couldn't say anything more in response, Jungyeop decided to open up about something he'd been meaning to ask Seulbi. “You’ve been moody lately,” he pointed out in concern. “You seem rather… displeased.”

"Displeased?" Seulbi ended up half-choking and coughing, "With what? Life has been great. Everyone’s healthy, university is okay, you’re all here with me… what more could I ask for?"

"You seem troubled when Sunggyu gets placed into the picture. Is there a problem, dear? Perhaps, are you feeling a little jealous of the attention your elder cousin is receiving?”

Great! Her grandfather had completely misread her and it made her look like the spoiled selfish, needy kid of the family.

“Seulbi, the child still feels like a guest in this household when he is in fact, not. We all have been making extra effort to make him feel more at home and give him that sense of family belongingness. I admit that lately, I've been showering him with much more attention, but never will I ever think of forgetting any of you. You especially. You are my one and only granddaughter, and there will always be a little soft spot in my heart for my little princess.”

“It's really not about that, abeonim,” Seulbi replied, letting out a deep and heavy sigh, finally deciding to explain what had led to her accumulated anger. "I'm not jealous or anything and I completely understand that you're trying to reconnect with Sunggyu. It’s just that... it's partly my fault, but when I found out he wasn't home yesterday, my temper flared up. It flared up even more when I found out he had ate and drank himself unconscious. Earlier, he even had the nerve to run away from home after all the trouble he's caused and while he was fronting for the band, I couldn't--”

“Do you not appreciate your cousin’s impeccable talent?”

“He was so cool, it was one of the most amazing things I've seen," Seulbi admitted with a shy smile of admiration for Sunggyu. "But he won't be hearing that from me. Not anytime soon, at least."

"That's one thing I have no control over, no matter how much I urge you to stop. Although I do trust that you'll both be equally responsible in sorting this mess out. Then again, I can always hear you kids when you're alone. You two really love to bicker at each other; you’re not even like this with Woohyun, Howon and Sungyeol. Also, I hear you calling your elder cousin names every time. Things like lazy bum, pig, loser and retard--"

“But he is!" Jungyeop gave her a stern look afterwards. "Okay, so maybe Sunggyu isn't exactly retarded. Why am I the only one getting flak for this? He isn't so graceful with the name calling either, I swear."

"Yet you both tolerate it, I know, because you would have put any person who called you names in the hospital faster than he could even finish his sentence. You tease each other, yet you're still friends. Seulbi dear, admit it. You're more open, you smile and laugh a lot more, you relax a lot more when Sunggyu is around. Lately, it seems that you are more yourself when you are with him.”

"Not really. He pisses me off so easily; he has a knack for getting himself into trouble and it's always me who has to clean up after his mess." But despite her harsh words, Seulbi ended up chortling anyway, her lips pulling into a dopey smile. "He always ends up doing something to completely embarrass himself too, it's seriously funny. He's actually a lot nicer than he lets on too."

"I'm glad that there's at least some hope that the two of you would get along fine. Though it still doesn't mean that you can go hurting your cousin with a broom and fancy judo skills over a pudding cup. Seulbi, you're not a little child anymore. You should know better than that."

"So I'm still in trouble?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Sunggyu has already chosen how you'll be spending your time-out, which you'll both carry out together," Jungyeop told her, much to Seulbi's chagrin. They'd end up killing each other before they could manage to finish the task, she was so sure.

<<<< >>>>

"This is demoralizing. I haven't received a time-out since I was ten. You look hideous, by the way."

"I could actually same the same for you. The blue jumpsuit doesn't suit you. Well, you're probably just too good at hiding the problems you've caused."

He was partly correct. She and Woohyun tended to troubleshoot everything on the spot before news could reach to any of their aunts and uncles, or even worse, their grandfather, but sadly it didn't save her this time. "This time, you're the problem I can't hide."

There was a little stare off between the two, who were now dressed in cleaning staff jumpsuits, before the hotel bell boys guided them to the second floor of the Olympus, and Seulbi did not the foreboding sense she was feeling. Both their mouths went slack when they saw the time-out task that awaited them. A wide stretch of carpets and curtains greeted them once they got to the grand ballroom of the hotel, followed by two vacuum cleaners that had been brought in. With a short, polite bow, the two bellboys left the two of them to resume their lobby duties.

"You could have picked an easier punishment, but no, you were too busy being so evil, the joke's on you," Seulbi scoffed before coughing lightly. "This place isn't even that dusty."

“Just be thankful that were not manually sweeping up all this! And how was I supposed to know I'd be part of it?” Sunggyu groaned, overwhelmed by the vast amount of carpet that needed vacuuming; the place was practically around 2000 square meters in floor area. "God, we’re going to be here until daybreak!"

Seulbi said nothing as she put on her face mask and got to work, hauling out the extension wires for the vacuum cleaner. In her mind, she was seriously considering burning down the carpet and buying a new one, but then she figure it would be counterproductive, instead adding a chock-full of ash for her to clean up. Now the only problem was figuring out how to use this damned contraption they called a vacuum because it pretty much looked like R2D2 to her.

Sunggyu almost wanted to laugh at the way Seulbi was glancing over her shoulder every now and then. She seemed to be imitating how he was making use of the vacuum, too shy to ask for instructions after their spat. But what he honestly liked about Seulbi was the fact that she was never pretentious. If she didn't know something, she didn't try to feign knowledge about it. The occurrences were rare, considering the genius that she was, but the moments were admirable. Her child-like curiousity would always surface and she presented eagerness to try out new things.

In the end, he ended up doing everything rather slowly in an attempt to demonstrate it to her step by step. It was better for her to learn anyway because he really had no plan on doing all this vacuuming by himself. Seulbi tilted her head like an observant child, taking note of the speed and the direction he was pushing the floor nozzle. In no time, she had gotten the hang of it and was doing a pretty speedy, efficient job herself.

"You're doing good for your first time vacuuming," Sunggyu pointed out.

"It should be faster if we split the room."

"Okay, call."

After setting a chair as their benchmark for the middle partition, the two worked on their respective parts in complete silence. The first thirty minutes, the work had been thorough yet speedy, but after that, it got terribly tiring and repetitive.

"Hey. You think you can get someone to work the soundbooth? We should put some music on before we bore ourselves to death," Sunggyu finally called out from across the ballroom.

Seulbi was quick to agree on the idea. It was annoying, hearing nothing but the constant drone of the vaccuum cleaner and she was sure to have banged her head into the nearest wall a few minutes later in complete irritation. Seulbi managed to request the help of a technician who was on shift for that night, and when everything had been set, she attached her iPod to the auxiliary cable provided in the sound booth the hotel owned and hit 'play'.

[What You Want - Kanto (ft. Sunggyu)]

Now, wait a minute.

While Seulbi went to resume her vacuum duty, Sunggyu listened as the familiar smooth, jazzy intro of the song currently playing filled the grand ballroom. Before he could even doubt that this was Seulbi's playlist, she began mumbling along to the lyrics without a care in the world, as if he wasn't there in the first place. Although Seulbi breathlessly fumbled with a few words at the rap part, she was holding pretty well going through the first verse. Living with Hoya and Dongwoo unconsciously made anyone develop decent rapping skills, in one way or another. Woohyun was obviously the weird exception to this.

It was painful, having to restrain himself from bursting into song, all for the sake of his stupid pride. Sunggyu tried to continue vacuuming but found himself pretty much distracted by the music. When Seulbi breezed through the second verse--unable to hold it in any longer--he ended up filling in with his own vocal adlibs. At first, Seulbi was surprised that a new voice had joined in, but she quickly got over the initial shock, eventually giving Sunggyu's vocals the free reign as he crooned throught the chorus.

♫I take one step forward, then you take two steps back
   Why are you doing this?
   You don't wanna watch a movie, you already ate
   What do you wanna do?
   What what what you want baby?
   What what what you want baby?
   Whatever you want, just say it
   I'll do everything, just come to me ♫

His velvety voice had a nicer and more pleasant ring to the ear now that she was hearing it in an enclosed area without the needless fan-screaming. Sunggyu realized the grave mistake he had committed by singing out loud and shied momentarily, but instead of being put-off, Seulbi was grinning at him, encouraging him to continue. That was all the permission he needed to dispel all his insecurities. Seulbi couldn't help but let out an amused laugh as Sunggyu began belting notes effortlessly into the vacuum handle, under the pretense that it was microphone stand.

♫Ay, girl, just tell me
   I'll listen to anything you want, it's simple
   Oh, just call me now, babe
   Dub dureu dub ttureu reureu reureu♫

Their vacuuming job had been momentarily forgotten as the two ended up singing the rest of the song together, getting a little too into it that they were acting like frenzied stage performers at a live showcase. They had the whole grand ballroom to themselves too, their loud voices bouncing across the walls. And as soon as the last notes faded, they ended up bursting into amused laughter.

"For a second there, I thought you loathed my singing," Sunggyu admitted. "Back at the fair... you told me it was a mistake being there."

"I'm sorry, but things came up, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. But loathe it? You're bat crazy."

He studied her facial expression and concluded that she had meant every word she said. Although Seulbi didn't admit it outright, he understood the implications of her statement and that somehow made his day. “You didn’t even notice you were hurt?”

“I am? Ow!” Seulbi asked, wincing as Sunggyu poked an extremely sore spot beside her temple, the exact same spot where he had hit her with the spoon. She had not even noticed that it had already formed a lump. "On a scale of ugly to mirror-breaking, how bad does it look?"

Quietly, Sunggyu walked over to her half of the venue, gently taking her vacuum cleaner from her hands. "Definitely not ugly. Go upstairs, get that iced and get some rest; crash into a vacant suite if you want to. I'm sure Grandpa won't mind if we inform the hotel manager in-charge."

"Then what about you?"

"I'll take over from here. You get some sleep."

"Are you kidding? We're not even halfway done; how are you going to finish all this by yourself?"

Sunggyu let out a deep sigh, holding in his temper. "We just made up, are we really going to fight over something as tiny as this again?"

"We're friends now?"

"I thought-- wait, what? we're still not?" Sunggyu asked increduously as he scratched his head in confusion. "Well, you wouldn't be talking to me on a more-than-one-word basis if that was still the case... right?"

"You do have a valid point. But just to make this official so neither of us gets confused..." Seulbi began, stretching out to offer her hand for a shake "... we're putting everything behind now. Friends?"

"Okay, but there is no effing way I'm doing something as kiddy as that."

"Do you want me to toss you overhead this time?"

He had enough of that for the night, thank you. Lowering his pride for once since this whole bizarre feud started, Sunggyu accepted her handshake, "I get it. Friends."

It was as if that was the magic word the staff of Olympus were waiting for this whole time, for they came barging in on cue with the whole cleaner crew at the ready for work. "Young Miss and Young Master, you have both been relieved of tonight's duties and are now free to head home," the housekeeping in-charge announced. The two looked at each other in confusion, but who were they to complain if they were getting off earlier?

Tired and sleepy, they piled into the car that was to send them back home. The rest of the car ride was quiet thereafter. Seulbi glanced at her phone to check the time display. 2:30 AM, it read. They had been sent out for roughly two hours now. But what caught her attention even more was the date on her phone; April 26th, it read. "Hey, your birthday is coming up in two days," she mused loud enough for Sunggyu to hear, "Anything you have in mind to celebrate it?"

Her words fell on deaf ears. The guy was already off into his own little dreamland. Today's ambulatory activities had really taken a toll on Sunggyu as he had been pushed beyond physical tolerance several times that night. Seulbi only shook her head, allowing him to rest before sinking into her car seat as well. She had been putting her part on hold since the latest happenings, but she sincerely put her trust that the rest of the preparations were going smoothly.

<<<< >>>>

Two mornings later, Sunggyu was roused from bed by excited house helps, reminding him to be dressed appropriately for leaving the house.

"Today is a special day after all!" they kept replying when he asked them about it, unwilling to provide anymore hints. He frowned as he dragged himself towards the shower, wondering what that could be. The moment he got to the dining area, the whole family was already there, present for breakfast, but somehow the food had yet to be served. Even Dongwoo was somehow invited to their little family banquet.

"Sorry, I don't think I was informed about today. What's happening? Would anyone kindly enlighten me?" Sunggyu asked, scratching his head as he stood awkwardly by the doorway.

"Hyung, you're weird," Sungjong began, his cat-like smile showing. "Do you really not know what today is?"

"Extra rest day from the university festivities?" he tried, trying to look at the rest one by one to fish out for some hints. Someone was bound to slip up soon anyway. "This isn't a hidden camera prank, is it?"

Hoya wanted to laugh so badly at the guy's cluelessness. "Someone let the guy in on it already, he looks so lost."

Before Sunggyu could even question what Hoya had meant by that remark, ringing filled the air which sounded a whole lot like jingling tambourines. A parade of maids and attendants came in, wheeling in a birthday cake. The whole crowd chorused into singing the birthday song for him.

"Ah, right!" Sunggyu exclaimed, both hands shooting up to his head in realization. "Today's the 28th of April." It was his birthday! Which coincidentally was Henry's birthday, for some strange reason...

"You really weren't lying when you said you really had no regard for your own birthday," Seulbi nudged.

"Yeah..." Sunggyu muttered. Even if all his favorites were laid out for breakfast that day, he wasn't the slightest bit happy about it. Being here in Henry's place felt quite intrusive. He had already robbed Henry of his identity and family, now he was taking his birthday presents and cake too?

"As I was saying, son," Jungyeop began, interrupting his thoughts. "Why don't you spend your day over at Jeonju? It's the least we can do as our sign of gratitude to them for taking care of you all this time! Sungjong can accompany you."

"I'm going home?" Sunggyu repeated, his face lighting up, unable to believe his ears. Immediately, he caught himself before he could slip up even further. Earlier sounded like he was too happy to be getting away from all of them for once, and it wasn't a reaction one would expect from a long-lost family member. "Wait. What about all of you?"

"Well, we'll all be busy taking care of personal overdue agenda today, but we promise we'll have dinner together with you, alright, son? Now off you go."

For once, Sunggyu was exstatic to celebrate his birthday. Before, he never really bothered on celebrating his birthday back at the orphanage. April 28 may not have been his exact birthday anyway and the money for cake could have been shelled out for something more important like repairs or electricity. Even when he moved to Seoul, he never really bothered either-- what was the use of celebrating it alone? But living here with the Lee family, seeing their family interactions made him think of the orphanage a lot, and when he was presented with the opportunity to spend this day (albeit partly) as Sunggyu, not as Henry, it made him feel very happy.

In fact, he was so thrilled by the thought of celebrating it back at home that he had completely missed the wink that Sungjong and Jungyeop had exchanged as they got into the car. The Lee family made sure they saw the two off at the main driveway. 

"You think he noticed?" Dongwoo brought up after the family car disappeared.

"I don't think so," Hoya pointed out. "He seemed to be in such a daze when we greeted him earlier."

"Well, we have about nine hours to get everything ready," Sungyeol computed. "And now, we commence Operation: Blow Sunggyu-hyung's socks off! Hopefully this time, he won't be too upset about the idea."

"I assure you, if we stick to my plan, this time around, he won't," Woohyun declared confidently before putting a comforting arm around Seulbi's shoulders. "And are you sure about your suggestion? I'm worried for you in particular. You don't have to force yourself to be there when it happens, and really, we can do without it."

"We'll go with it, Woohyun. I'll be fine. I should be," Seulbi reassured, though it sounded like she was giving herself a pep talk. "But I'm not going to be the one sitting in the car with those things, just saying."

"We'll swap schedules for the day just like we agreed on," Sungyeol reminded her. "You can count on me to take care of it!"

And just like that, Sunggyu's surprise birthday operations had officially commenced.

<<<< >>>>

Unbeknownst to Sunggyu, they had all convened a week before without him, with Jungyeop leading the charge. He had wanted to do something special for his grandson's birthday and he needed the kids' help. It was the first time that he would be celebrating it with his family, after all. The last time Jungyeop had brought this up... well, Sunggyu hadn't been all too pleased. So, he listened to what each one had to say.

"Well, it's hard to help, to be honest. I've grown up with hyung, he hasn't once demand for anything. But one thing's for sure, he likes to keep things simple. Especially with the presents-- nothing too extravagant or he'll feel guilty about having you spend so much for him."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate the thought of a private family dinner," Woohyun suggested, steering the conversation his way. He had to take charge lest this ended up in that introduction ball he was dreading to happen.

Dongwoo scratched his head, unwilling to accept that as it is. "It's Gyuzizi's first birthday back home, dinner should at least be more special."

"We could have it at the penthouse roof deck of the Olympus," Hoya suggested with a snap of his fingers. "You don't get to dine and unwind up on one of the best views in the whole of South Korea every so often! We're not even allowed special privileges up there."

"Could be, but we need to end it with a BANG at the very least!" Sungyeol chirped, pacing around the room. "Something that should be inconspicuous to the rest of the South Korean population, but really means 'WELCOME HOME, HYUNG!' in big, fat, letters."

Seulbi, who had yet to say anything, decided to finally speak up. "Lights. Sky lanterns, fireworks... he'd like that," she whispered, recalling Sunggyu's fascination for the stars and for the Incheon bridge lights. But bringing a good idea up was at the expense of her comfort. Talking about fireworks and such-- even the thought of it started to make her feel anxious already. Everyone gave her a worried look.

"Are you sure about this, Seulbi?" came her grandfather's question.

The girl only gave a tiny smile in response. "I held out better last New Year, so why not?"

Everyone unanimously decided to buy just a couple for Seulbi's sake, but she had insisted to go all out for Sunggyu's birthday. Sungyeol had no choice but to comply with her wishes; she was serious when she said she wanted to push through with this. He understood that Seulbi wasn't doing this just for Sunggyu, she was doing this to help herself get over her firework anxiety as well. 



So here he was, finalizing their placed order at their frequented retail and while waiting for the haulers to finish loading the equipment into the truck that followed, he was able to get the chance to ask a few of the pyrotechnicians assigned to set-up that night's display how the stuff behind the scenes were actually controlled, from the timing to the order. The fruitful discussion managed to engage him for awhile until a new customer entered the premises.

Sungyeol's gaze hardened at the familiar newcomer, "L."

"Sungyeol," Myungsoo acknowledged back coldly. It struck his curiousity as to why Sungyeol was picking up a chock load of fireworks when there was no upcoming special event nor holiday he knew of, but decided not to pursue it. He was here to personally place an order of his own, not pick school boy fights. He ignored Sungyeol glaring daggers at the back of his head as he went through the whole process.

Myungsoo shot him down before the verbal argument could ensue. "I don't want to hear it now, I'm late as it is. Save it for after the meeting with Heo Group."

Sungyeol's jaw dropped as if he had committed the gravest sin of all time. "Seulbi is going to kill me for this!" he groaned, pulling his face down. "I completely forgot to tell her about that meeting! And it's in less than an hour!" He fumbled for his phone in his pocket and hurriedly punched in Seulbi's number to apologize and explain.

And that was how Seulbi got somehow traded in in her cousin's steed, for reasons he wasn't aware of. She had not been the least upset with Sungyeol for it, and after a quick talk, urged him to continue what he was supposed to be doing. The two were acting rather weird, which led Myungsoo to speculate that something was definitely brewing up behind the scenes. Once she had gotten there (and in the nick of time too), Seulbi had taken her assigned seat which was coincidentally next to Myungsoo's, and once everyone in attendance had benn settled, the meeting on the proposed high-end residency project begun.

Despite the calm look on her face, Seulbi was visibly agitated the whole time. Every now and then, she kept glancing at her watch, tapping her pencil impatiently between intervals of checking the time. Myungsoo tried to ignore her, but it was hard to when she kept moving around every now and then, distracting his peripheral vision. Her being too restless led him to abandon the idea that she was sick. Something else was clearly biting her. Right now, she was doodling on the notepad provided, clearly uninterested.

Bothered (and slightly jealous) of her nonchalance, he decided to write a reminder down, crumpling the paper up in his hand before tossing it sideways. It landed perfectly on the top of Seulbi's notepad, catching her attention. She looked around to see whom it had been from but found no other familiar face but Myungsoo's. Seulbi deduced that it must have come from him.

Curious, she uncrumpled the note. "Pay attention, Maxene," it read. Quickly, she began jotting her reply down underneath his message, crumpling the piece of paper back up, tossing it to Myungsoo's direction when the meeting presider had his back turned.

Myungsoo decided to read it from underneath the table. "Aren't you a little too old to be passing notes?" she had written down. Shaking his head, he scribbled in his reply beneath her tidy handwriting before folding the paper up, flicking the paper, causing it to slide towards her direction.

"Aren't you a little too old to be playing tic-tac-toe?" was his comeback reply. He had even added one of his weird emoticons in, and it was sticking out its tongue at her. "Hey!" Seulbi couldn't help but hiss out audibly enough for him to hear. "Mind your own business!"

"What sane person plays tic-tac-toe by themselves?" Myungsoo muttered under his breath.

"Want to play, then?" she muttered back, pushing the pad towards him.

"You're in a meeting, in case you've forgotten."

"I have been listening, and it's not like you're paying attention either. If I knew better, you're sorely tempted to fire back at the bull he's spouting up in front."

Their mumbling finally managed to catch the attention of the meeting presider, Mr. Heo. "Are there any questions, Ms. Lee? Mr. Kim?" The two quickly shook their heads in response, smiling to encourage the elder man to carry on with the meeting. "As I was saying, with a little more pressuring from our tie-up banking companies, we should be able successfully evict and buy out the land from these empoverished tenants. Housing compensation, you ask? That's not our responsibility, Madamme Seo-- so what if these people earned their land from their so-called forefathers?"

Seulbi had decided to slip Myungsoo a note while all the rambling was going on. She had ended up doodling a caricature of Mr. Heo, complete with horns and tiny devil wings. She had also over-emphasized his balding head, double chin, and pot belly. Although it was honestly funny, he bit his tongue to stiffle his laughter, and immediately scribbled under it before passing it over. "Are you trying to get yourself kicked out?"

"Pretty much. It's Sunggyu's first birthday home," Seulbi's now messy scrawl read. "If this hell hole continues at this rate, I'm not going to make it to dinner at all. And I don't know about you but Mr. Heo doesn't deserve my time of the day."

"Coffee break. Ditch?"

"Call. Never liked coffee anyway."

That was how the two youngsters found themselves getting up and out of their seats and heading towards the main doors during the checkpoint open forum set in the middle of the mini-conference. Of course, this did not go unnoticed by the rest of the clients and eventually Mr. Heo, who demanded an explanation as to what they were doing.

"I think it's pretty clear where Woollim stands on this if I'm leaving deadsmack in the middle of your pointless chatter, sir," Seulbi pointed out with a rather languid tone. "Frankly, I'm dissapointed, I expected something more sensible from one of the biggest companies of Seoul, South Korea, not some diabolical plot bypassing housing reform laws of the government."

"I've seen university students who can plan and conceptualize better, Mr. Heo, and sad to say, I'd rather have Jeguk funding those little projects than waste my money on something as selfish and amateur as this. So goodluck with that and good day to you."

"You brats don't know a thing or two about running the company anyway!" Mr. Heo screamed after them as the two walked off. "Your respective CEO's will be hearing from me-- we'll see if you can still walk around with your head held high once you've been disinherited-- w-wait. Wait, where are the rest of you going?"

It looks like that little act of rebellion from the two bigshot companies was the only stimulus needed. Who cared if they were the youngest of the bunch? One by one, the investors and contractors started getting up from their seats as well, expressing their distaste for the Han company's recent project before leaving the meeting room.

Seulbi had barely stopped to chat, rushing out of the building's main entrance and into the sidewalk. "What are you doing?" Myungsoo couldn't help but ask, finding her behavior strange. Some hired guards or Shimgoon would usually be waiting for her at the lobby, but this time, she didn't have anyone doing so. Moreso, where was their family sedan?

"Um... flagging down a cab?" Seulbi responded before double checking her hand signals. She's seen Sunggyu do it a couple of times and it was simple to follow from the looks of it. All she needed to do was stand at the sidewalk, stick her arm up in the air, and wave for one. And she was well before the rush hour window too, so getting one shouldn't be a problem.

Bewildered by her reply, Myungsoo looked at her, "You've already ridden one?"

"Yeah, a couple of times, but only just this year," she admitted, grinning when one decided to pull over for her. "Ride's here! Drive home safely, Soo! Hi, to the Olympus, please--"

In she went and after the sight of her shoe disappeared, the door shut after her. He could only watch as the cab drove off into its destination, somewhat amused by her unlikely transition from forever chauffered kid to cab-riding heiress.

<<<< >>>>

After that last-minute ditch effort, Seulbi found herself racing into the lobby and upstairs to the penthouse roofdeck. "Woah, woah! Calm down, hyung isn't even here yet," Hoya laughed, grabbing Seulbi by both shoulders in an attempt to slow her down.

"He's currently number two on my priority list right now--" Seulbi quickly dismissed, sounding terribly winded from all her rushing. The girl immediately gave a sharp bow, forcing Hoya to release his hold on her. Lee Jungyeop had come in from behind the Jang heir to welcome his granddaughter back after a long day.

"Abeonim, I humbly implore for your forgiveness!" she gasped, unable to bring herself to look him straight in the eye out of sheer guilt. "I may or may not have ended our partnership with the Heo Group without consult and out of personal judgment call-- he was rambling on and on about things that didn't quite agree with my personal values and I couldn't take it. I just wanted to tell you before Mr. Heo did."

Jungyeop only patted her shoulders, "No, in fact, thank you! You just made my job easier! Our joint project deals are coming to term by the end of this month; we were planning to meet them and turn down their contract renewal offer anyway. It isn't good to Woollim's image if our partners are pulling, all for their so-called 'sustainable energy'."

Well, it was quite lucky of her that she didn't mess up. She only gave her grandfather an apologetic toothy grin.

"He's on his waaaay, people!" scout Dongwoo hollered as he sprinted back out to the roof deck and everyone scrambled about in a moment of panic. Luckily Woohyun and Sungyeol had finished the last minute double check just on time too. Sunggyu had just brushed off an overly-chirpy Sungjong who kept shoving him in, and found himself greeted by a roof deck meticulously decorated with several bright colored balloons, streamers and series lights.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

A couple of party horns had been blown into his face, making him jump. Everyone from the Woollim family started piling out of their hiding place in such a festive mood, giving him congratulatory pats on the back and head locks. Sunggyu found himself choked for words. "I-- This--"

"Happy birthday, Sunggyu!" Jungyeop greeted, the corners of his eyes crinkling in his happiness. "I know you said you didn't want anything fancy, but we just couldn't let the day pass without doing anything special. I hope it isn't too much."

"Nam, you agreed to all this?" Sunggyu asked Woohyun as the guy voluntary steered him towards the dinner table, where a scrumptuous looking feast was waiting for them.

"Before you start complaining, it's just us. No outsiders, no fancy introductory ball, just your regular family birthday dinner... except that it's on the penthouse rooftop of Woollim's pride and glory. It's been passed off as a private booking, by the way, so we don't need to worry about whomever snooping wherever, whenever. The Namstar has got you completely covered, buddy," Woohyun reassured. "Cousin Henry aside, it is your birthday, of course we need to celebrate the day you were born!"

Sunggyu couldn't help but give the guy a playful jab to the shoulder. "I normally don't want to tell you this because you let it get to your head so easily, but thanks."

"I aim to please. Now come on! Dinner time! You took too long, we're starving!"

After a hearty dinner, it was time for the presents. Hoya had given Sunggyu two new snapbacks, Sungyeol a powerbank. Dongwoo had bought him a leather jacket, inspired by his rockstar stint at the schoold festival. Woohyun had given him a new pair of sneakers, joking that the ones he wore often reminded him of the smell of kimchi. Sungjong had given him the backpack he had been eyeing since forever. Seulbi had made the lamest excuse that the preparations for this day was the reason she had left him in the middle of the road days ago and handed over a mere birthday card. Jungyeop had come in with the birthday cake and after singing the birthday song, Sunggyu blew out all his candles before the cake was served up for dessert.

"And here I thought you were the stingy one. That is such a waste of icing," Woohyun pointed out, noticing how Sunggyu had almost entirely shaved the icing off of his slice of the cake, lumping it into a thick pile on the side of his plate.

"Look, I don't even care about the number of skin products you slap onto your face daily, so lay off how I eat my cake, alright?"

"I'm not dropping the issue. You're mutilating it! It isn't cake without the icing!"

"If you think I'm wasting so much icing, why don't you have some, Woohyun-nie?" Sunggyu huffed, childishly flinging a good spoonful at Woohyun's direction.

In an unexpected turn of events, Woohyun had coincidentally bent down in that split second, noticing that one of his shoelaces have been untied, leaving Seulbi unguarded from the trajectory path the icing was taking and it landed dead smack onto her nose. The whole table grew silent, expecting another war to break out between the two. From the corner, Jungyeop was subtly trying to keep anything sharp out of the two's reach.

“Here, birthday boy.” Seulbi didn’t even think twice and shamelessly reached out to slam Sunggyu's icing-filled plate all over his face. Hoya and Sungyeol were already jumping for joy, amused at Seulbi’s pluck. This time, Seulbi was also smiling, satisfied that she had taken her revenge. By this time, Woohyun had gotten the hint that he was the cause of all this and had started backing away from the main group, forcing Sunggyu to take his frustration out on the nearest others.

"This is for laughing at me," Sunggyu snapped, lathering his hands with what was left of the cake before rubbing handfuls of icing into both their mouths while the two were still busy cackling.

“YOU SORE LOSER!” Hoya roared, spitting out the icing that he had swallowed.

"IT'S EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF NOW, YOU PUNKS!" Sungyeol yelled out in his best warrior-like battle yell, but he ended up sounding like a shrieking dolphin as he ended up tackling Dongwoo and Sungjong with a handful of icing each.

"Watch it! WATCH THE FACE!" Woohyun bellowed, shielding his face. "THAT IS THE LAST STRAW! LEE SUNGJONG, YOU'RE DEAD!"

Lee Jungyeop chuckled as he watched the kids horsing around, making sure to back away just to avoid getting hit from the icing-slinging. Sunggyu's birthday cake was practically a disfigured lump right now, and he was giving himself a mental pat on the back for his good judgment on buying a second spare cake.


They had all gotten themselves cleaned up at the presidential suite from the cake mess they had made. The moment Sunggyu had stepped back onto the roofdeck, being the last to wash up, he discovered that his birthday surprise was still far from over. Each of the guys had bright smiles on, holding up sky lanterns with funny birthday messages doodled on them. Sungjong had told him to hurry on up and light one up for himself so that they could release the first batch altogether. Grinning, Sunggyu did as he was told, grabbing one before igniting the little wick attached to it and watching like a happy child as the lantern grew to its full size.

As the rest had their fun of sending more and more lanterns up, Sunggyu stood beside Lee Jungyeop as he watched the light lanterns rise into the night sky, lightly dancing in the wind even. Although they weren't enough to duplicate the vastness of the nightsky, they reminded him of stars twinkling in the distance. For a long moment, neither of them said anything, basking in the view and the sound of laughter by the rest of the guys. It was Jungyeop who had broken that silence as he cleared his throat to speak.

"You know, in Taiwan and China, they send sky lanterns up every year as part of their Lantern Festival activities. People have taken to write their wishes, prayers and love declarations on the lanterns before sending them up, watching as they get carried to the sky-- an express courier service to heaven, as they like to put it," Jungyeop mused. "It's a symbol of letting go of the past. Poetic, huh?"

"It's rather sad if you put it in that context, though."

"True. That's why instead, I'd like to think of it as a symbol new beginnings. It's all a matter of perspective, really. Those lanterns today remind us of how thankful we are that you were born, that you're back here with us, that we're able to get to know you, that you're able to spend time with us, your family. That's why, even if it's been months now, I'd still like to say it again: welcome home, my son."

Words so simply endearing as that really tugged at his heartstrings. For a moment, he truly felt like he belonged... like he had been home all along... that these kind-hearted people were family. Sunggyu couldn't help but grin back as he allowed himself to indulge and fully return Lee Jungyeop's fatherly hug for once.

"I think now should be a perfect time to read your cousin's birthday message for you," Jungyeop kindly suggested, pointing to the card Sunggyu kept in his back pocket. Sunggyu had honestly almost forgotten about its existence if not for that reminder. "I'll give you a bit of privacy for awhile."

Once Jungyeop had left his side, Sunggyu finally decided to open Seulbi's birthday card to find that the girl had written a rather lengthy birthday message for him, her tidy handwriting filling up almost two-thirds of it.

"Sunggyu," it read, "I hope you're looking up every now and then while you're reading this birthday message. I decided to light up the night sky for you today, knowing your weird fascination for lights and light-analogies. Although Sungjong's mentioned several times to keep the fancy level on the down low... well, you only turn twenty-one once."

"It's no cloud breaker nor Bat-signal, but I hope it solves your little Eskimo legend just the same. Unfortunately, as lovely as they are, I'm unable to bring myself watch them up close... for reasons I'd rather not disclose on a joyous ocassion such as today. So please send some love up to my mom and dad for me, to uncle and auntie as well, I'm counting on you! PS: If you're still not getting it, this is my real birthday gift. Your favorite cousin, Seulbi"

On cue, the first shower of fireworks burst, painting a multitude of bright colors into the night sky. The next series shot up, each us beautiful and captivating as its precedents.

"That idiot!" he breathed in frustration. No one told her to do this for him in the first place! Sunggyu looked around in urgency. True enough, Lee Seulbi was nowhere to be found, and only then did he realize that the girl never came back on the roofdeck out after they all went inside to wash up from the icing war he had started. Unconsciously, his feet started moving, his strides getting faster and before he knew it, he had broken into a run. The rest were too preoccupied with the spectacular display of color and light to notice that the birthday boy had gone off on his own. 

Sunggyu was almost frantic when he bumped into Dongwoo, who came back in bringing a couple more lanterns for him to personally light and send up into the sky. "Basement parking," the Jang heir mouthed to hint him up, sensing his unease. Seulbi must be the reason why he was in such a hurry to leave.

"Thanks!" Sunggyu mouthed back before making his way down in hopes he could still catch up with the girl.

<<<< >>>>

One minute. Seulbi decided she was going to hold out for at least a minute.

Sunggyu's eyes had thinned into tiny crescents as he laughed in child-like amusement and wonder as he watched the sky lanterns floating above him. It was the most genuine smile she's ever seen from him, and to Seulbi, that was enough for her. With a sad smile, she slipped away unnoticed towards the building elevator despite all the festivity going on, planning to bunker up at the hotel's basement where she was far away from the view. She shivered as her thoughts started to override into her senses. Seulbi shook her head as an attempt to shake off the creeping sensation.

Red. All she remembered was red. Blazing. Burning.

"MOM? DAD?"

Unable to get the thoughts out of her head, she immediately hit the button for the nearest floor, getting off the elevator there instead of taking it all the way to the basement. Seulbi made a panicked dash into the fire exit instead. Every step sent a fresh wave of pain running through her chest and whole body. Her senses and her mind started to go into haywire as she began slipping back into vivid memories of the past.

"Someone, please... HELP!"

Smoke. She could still remember it burning down into her nostrils and throat, creeping down into her lungs. It had been awhile since this last happened. Seulbi took in slow, even breaths to remind herself that this wasn't real anymore, that she was better than this, and that this was all happening inside her head. She felt strangled, completely smothered. It was a real struggle for oxygen now as the coughing became non-stop. Shutting her eyes tightly, Seulbi quietly pleaded for the nightmare to be over.

"Breathe."

Her eyes fluttered open. Seulbi had been unaware that she had been crouching with her hands over her ears for a couple of minutes now. She had become woozy from holding her breath for too long and it had to take her a few blinks to confirm she wasn't imagining things. The source of the calming voice stood at the bottom of the staircase for that landing, breathing heavily, exhausted from having run all the way.

"Soo?" she wheezed, her eyes watery. "Why are you...?"

In all honesty, Kim Myungsoo still didn't understand why he had enough balls to turn the car around and head to the Olympus once it clicked in his head that the fireworks that Sungyeol ordered were for Sunggyu's birthday. He knew that his brash actions could potentially cause huge trouble yet here he was. Seeing a fearful Seulbi struggling all alone justified his reasons for stepping into enemy territory. "Shhh. Now's not the time for that."

He made his way up to where she was and collected her, leading her down the remaining flight of steps and into the basement, where his car had been parked. Seulbi's hesitant fingers brushed up against his familiar calloused ones. "Real," Seulbi mumbled in relief as she pulled her hand away, satisfied with the small contact, as though his mere presence there was comforting enough. "You're real. Thank you."

"Now's not the time for that either. They won't totally cancel out the loud noise, but breathe and just concentrate on the music for now," Myungsoo hushed, gently fitting his headphones over her ears and pulling out his iPod, which comforted Seulbi a little. Up to this very day, he still used that ancient jet black classic model he had gotten as a gift from her several years back. Seulbi didn't bother questioning why he still kept it after all this time and grew silent.

It seems like the fireworks display overhead had just started-- it was still audible enough from where they were currently seated. To the Jeguk heir's relief, Seulbi was calm and wasn't reacting to it, instead focusing on the melody of the song.

"About your cousin... you don't have to worry anymore. Your secret's safe with me." Myungsoo mumbled, breaking the silence between them. "However, it would be best not to keep me close. It'll only be dangerous for Kim Sunggyu... for you."

Seulbi didn't say anything, seemingly too caught up with the music she was listening to. Whether or not she had heard him was not for him to decide in the first place, but he knew what he had to do. After deciding this for himself tonight, there should be no half-assed wishy-washy commitment on his side. Just ten minutes... ten more minutes and he would really distance himself for good this time around.



"That girl! Where could she have possibly gone off to?" Sunggyu bellowed to himself. With a two-floor basement, he was at a loss on where to start looking. The first thing he had gone for was the family car, but to his surprise, she wasn't there. He had been running around the basement parking area now, craning his neck left and right for any sign of the Woollim heiress.

And then he spotted it: that olive green fleece jacket and furry hood was not hard to miss. Without even thinking, he sped towards her, almost getting himself run over in the process. The driver honked loudly at him but Sunggyu brushed it off and continued running to that direction, intent on yelling at her for pulling this stunt with the fireworks and all.

She was leaning against the trunk of someone's sedan, the white headphones over her ears a stark contrast to gloomy atmosphere. He drew closer, only for him to find out that she wasn't alone after all. Luckily, Myungsoo hadn't noticed him there, his attention bestowed on the girl in close proximity beside him, who had her eyes closed in meditation. Every now and then, Myungsoo would steal a longing glance over his shoulder just to check on how Seulbi was doing.

Sunggyu decided to keep his distance and make his way back to the roofdeck where everyone must have been waiting. He had accomplished his goal of checking up on the heiress and found out that he didn't even have to worry in the first place. Besides, ice prince L over there was doing a pretty fine job of watching over her and keeping her company. Everything should be okay...

... right?

So why was there such an uncomfortable twang in his chest after watching the two together?

A/N: And there we have it! How are you all doing? It's been so long since the last update, but I'm honestly thankful that you guys are still keeping the influx of subscribers coming-- ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT! TWENTY ONE UPVOTES TOO! WOW, THANK YOU! I'd have never dreamed to reach this much. Big, big thank you to those who're still sticking around and to those who have left comments! I love you all!

Anyawy, back to the storyline-- I hope this was a nice and hilarious and touching and frustrating conclusion to the whole mumbo-jumbo from Chapter 20, and I hope this clears previous questions out as well? Favorite part, anyone? Not so favorite part? Let's here them all! I personally enjoyed writing the whole swashbuckling scene; the betting part and Sunggyu running around in the basement is a big salute to 'BAD' HAHAHA (Betting on you~) Hmm, what else? I think it's pretty much implied now why Seulbi seeks solace in fire exits; it's PTSD from-- well, it's to be expounded on in the future, so watch out for that. And is that jealousy I smell, Kim Sunggyu? We'll have to watch out for that as well! Until next time!

PS: For anyone wondering, I got the sky lantern idea from Tangled-- "Every year, on her birthday, the king and queen send up sky lanterns in hopes that the lost princess would see them and come home"-- sounds familiar, no? And from That Summer 2, too! Infinite sends you their love as well!