Is today over yet? 

Most people would be excited when that one time of year comes around where everyone is supposed to make you feel special and pay attention to you. Most people would be thrilled to be spending their birthday with friends and having a big party. Most people wouldn't be lying in bed dreading everything that was to happen. 

Then again, most people weren't Park Chorong. 

She could have lived with skipping her birthday this year. She hardly even celebrated it at home so why bother doing so in Jejudo? There was no point really. All she knew was that birthdays meant trouble and trouble meant disaster. 

She really could have lived with skipping her birthday this year. 

Was she going to be allowed to? Of course not. 

So the best thing to do was force on a smile, act happy, and try not to struggle too much through the day. She could play it up, pretend to actually be enjoying herself. But on the inside? She'd definitely be counting down the minutes for the day to be over. 

It was a shame time never moved as fast as anyone wanted it to. 

♡♡♡

It was definitely not her kind of scene, people she didn't know scattered everywhere, balloons left and right, and presents she didn't want stacked up. She honestly wanted to bail, but she knew if she tried Nayoung would find out and drag her back before she could make a far enough getaway. 

Just a few hours. All you have to do is hang around for a few hours. 

"Hey, Chorong!" She glanced over towards the group of people passing by, smiles on their faces. "Happy birthday!" 

Thank you person I don't know. 

At least, that's what she wanted to say. Instead she just politely smiled and thanked them before shuffling away so she didn't have to interact with any more people she didn't know. If anyone thought Chorong was awkward on a normal day, then they definitely would think she's certifiably unsocial today. 

Her ideal birthday would have been sitting at the hotel, maybe having Jongsuk over, and trying to figure out what the hell she was even going to do about that situation. Big parties? People dancing and having a good time? This wasn't her idea of fun. But, that's when you get when your sister is Nayoung and she knows everyone despite their location. 

At least one of her ideal birthday situations was coming true. 

She couldn't help but smile as she stared at the door, watching probably the most gorgeous person walk right in, his eyes scanning the room to obviously find her. For some reason she could feel the butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach and it made her even more nervous than she already was. 

Eventually Jongsuk's eyes did land on her and that famous smile of his crossed his face as he headed in her direction. She noticed that he checked her out briefly and he realised he had been caught, blushing slightly as he neared her. 

"Hey." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as he stood in front of her. 

"Hey." 

The tension was clear between them and she started to wonder if anyone else could feel it too. She just wanted to break it and act normally, but it was kind of hard to do that when one has this great guy in front of her and she's not exactly sure on what to do with her feelings. 

"Um, happy birthday." Jongsuk pulled her into a one-armed hug as he took the first step to break their suffocating tension. When he pulled back he found himself looking her up and down again, the blush still on his cheeks. "You look beautiful." 

Well, he wasn't the only one blushing cause that comment was definitely the trigger Chorong needed for hers to start. On any other day she probably would have just awkwardly laughed or maybe joked around with him, but there was something else on her mind that was keeping her embarrassed. 

Nayoung.

Usually she wouldn't be thinking about her sister while she's supposed to be having this moment with Jongsuk, but she couldn't help but hear those words she had told her this morning over and over again. 

"Jongsuk likes you, Chorong. He's open and honest with how he feels about you so why can't you be honest with your own feelings? You should have already lost your ity to the guy because you and I both know that he's the one for you." 

. Everything always fell upon . No matter how hard she tried to avoid the subject and just not think about it, she just wasn't trying hard enough. There was always going to be that big question up in the air. 

Am I ready? 

Sometimes she felt weird that she hadn't lost her ity yet. Nayoung and almost every girl back in Seoul at her school had lost it. So why was hers still intact and her fear keeping her from doing something about it? 

"You okay?" Jongsuk got a bit closer, his face only inches from hers now. "You kind of spaced out there for a bit." 

Well, the blush wasn't going to go away any time soon now. "Sorry about that. I just-" She desperately searched for something to get her out of another awkward situation and was relieved when she found that something. "Luhan!" 

Saved by the bell? Nope, saved by the blond. 

She rushed him over with quick hand gestures and greeted him with a relieved hug. "Thanks for coming." 

"No problem, this seems like a great party. Oh, and happy birthday. Are you having a good day?" 

Well, she could tell the truth about how she wished she wasn't here right now. 

Or she could just lie and fake having a good time. 

"I'm having a great time, thanks. Best birthday ever." She was just hoping that nobody would be able to detect her sarcasm. 

Luhan must have heard it because he just continued to smile, giving her a slight apologetic look as he held his hands out, extending a present out to her. She gave him a confused look, wishing that he really hadn't gotten her anything. 

"It's not from me, it's from Joonmyun." 

She felt her stomach sink just at the mention of Joonmyun's name. It was something that she had thought about all night long, but had managed to slip her mind up until right now. She honestly didn't want to think about him, but it wasn't like her night could get any worse really. 

She took the present, cradling it in her hands for a little while. She didn't know why she felt so hesitant about opening it. She wondered if maybe he was mad about what happened and had some trick in the box. Or maybe it was his way of trying to get her to forgive him for all the rotten things he had done in the past. 

Or maybe he was just being kind. 

The thought of him just being kind didn't seem too far off, really. Ever since their time in the cave she had noticed a change in him that she never though was possible. He seemed like he was really trying to change and be a better person. And she actually like the idea of a nicer Joonmyun. 

And then he almost got her sister pregnant and that was all shattered to pieces. 

Of course she had to listen to Nayoung go on and on all night long about how she was too harsh on Joonmyun the previous night. She tried to get Chorong to go over there and apologise for being so rude to her boyfriend since they weren't pregnant and nothing really happening. But that's not how Chorong saw it. 

Really, the almost pregnancy kind of opened her eyes to what she already knew. 

Joonmyun was never going to change. He was always going to be the same self-centered, arrogant guy that didn't care who he hurt if they got  in his way. He could have completely ruined Nayoung's life if they really had been pregnant and that wasn't something Chorong was going to just let happen. 

So why bother trying to fix something that could never really be fixed? 

The voice in the back of her head was telling her otherwise. She could hear her Grandma Bae loud and clear and telling her that she shouldn't think in such a horrible way. Her grandmother always tried to find the good in people and wished with all her heart that Chorong would do the same as she grew up. 

But Chorong really didn't know if she could ever be the kind of person her grandmother was. She would never be as kind and generous and sincere as that woman. And maybe that was the reason she couldn't forgive Joonmyun and let things be okay. 

"I'll open it later." Chorong really didn't want to think about Joonmyun anymore, or look at his present, so she tucked it under her jacket on the table and out of sight. She wondered if later on she would open it or not, and for some reason her mind was pointing more towards the 'not.' 

"Chorong," Luhan sighed and she knew where this was going. "Joonmyun is really beating himself up about what happened. Is there any way you can just find it in yourself to talk to him sometime?" 

She needed to find a distraction and she needed to find on fast. She knew she was wasting too much silence on Luhan's question and any second now he would be piping up again and maybe she would even crack under the pressure and answer him. 

Jongsuk must have noticed her slight panic because he took her hand and turned towards Luhan. "Can you give us a moment? I'd really love to steal Chorong away for a little while so we could talk about something privately." 

Both her and Luhan glanced at Jongsuk with confusion, but the glances were broken when he started to lead her away towards a back room and away from the loud party she was being forced to attend. 

That was definitely a knight is shining armour move. 

"I'm not really into loud parties either, you know. I'd rather just hang out in a little group where I can actually hear what someone else is saying. Especially when what they're trying to say is really important." 

One awkward situation diverted and she was right back into another. 

"You have something diverted and she was right back in another. 

"You have something important to say to me?" 

Jongsuk led her to a booth in the corner and helped her sit down, taking a seat right next to her. He let go of her hand and looked down, fiddling with his fingers nervously. She couldn't help but notice it and found it pretty cute, actually. 

"Kind of, but I actually have something for you first." 

She tried to open to object to any present that he was trying to give her, but he shook his head, not wanting her to. Jongsuk reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped box and handed it to her. 

"It's not much. I found it in a shop in town and I thought you'd really like it." 

Chorong held it in her hands, a little afraid to open it. But, she decided to go ahead and do so and unwrapped the box, opening it up and feeling her breath hitch in the back of when she did so. 

"I notice that you always wear that charm bracelet," Jongsuk spoke softly as he took the box and pulled the shiny charm from it. "It's a hummingbird. It symbolises joy, beauty and love." He pulled her hand towards him and softly messed with the bracelet, hooking the new charm onto it and smiling. "I wanted to get you something special and I really didn't know what to get until I saw that." 

She held her hand up and watched the charms dangle below, the new one catching her full attention. It had been so long since she had a charm added to it; at least two years since her grandmother had passed. Every year for her birthday she would have another