It was Thursday night, the eve of Krystal's 20th birthday, and Krystal was in a rather grumpy mood. After receiving the day off on Monday to help her recover from last Saturday's fainting spell, Krystal felt like the drama production team was trying to work her to exhaustion again. Tonight's filming was expected to end at 4pm, but she hadn't been released until well past 6pm. And now Krystal was being driven home by her manager, who was describing a rather bleak filming schedule for tomorrow given that tomorrow was her birthday.

"The shooting is scheduled until 8pm, but the production team said to expect delays since the scripts are behind schedule again," Krystal's manager explained. "You might be stuck on set pretty late tomorrow." Krystal groaned and her manager grimaced apologetically while keeping his eyes on the road. "I know, the schedule . But there's not much we can do about it."

"But I have a birthday party planned for tomorrow night! Vic-unnie and the others are coming over to my house!" Krystal pouted. She had been looking forward to the plans since Amber had revealed them to her on Monday. So much coordination had been required to align the f(x) members' schedules, but all 5 of them would be free Friday night to celebrate Krystal's birthday.

"Sorry, Soo Jung," her manager apologized, "but our staff will celebrate with you between filming tomorrow. It'll still be a fun birthday, I promise!"

"Yeah, I guess. Thanks, oppa," Krystal said with a sigh. She appreciated her manager-oppa's attempt at cheering her up, but this wasn't the birthday she had in mind. But like many things in her life lately, Krystal was learning how to accept unexpected changes.

"Maybe you can reschedule the party with your members this weekend?" he suggested, but Krystal shook her head.

"You know their schedules better than I do. It's impossible," Krystal replied sulkily.

Her manager put a sympathetic hand on her head as they approached Krystal's parents' house. "Only two more weeks of filming left. Hang in there, Soo Jung."

Krystal responded with a half-hearted nod and hopped out of the van. To her surprise, she noticed that Jessica's car was parked in the driveway. Her sister had been out of the country and wasn't expected to be back until Saturday, the day after her birthday.

"This is unnie's car! She's home!" Krystal exclaimed, turning around to look at her manager-oppa. "Did you know about this?"

"No, I didn't. Really!" he exclaimed defensively upon receiving a suspicious glare from Krystal. "Go inside and ask her if you don't believe me."

Heeding his advice, Krystal quickly ran to the door after saying goodbye to her manager. She missed her sister terribly having been away from Jessica for over two weeks. The Jung sisters were incredibly close, and Krystal couldn't wait to greet her sister and catch up on all of the events in each others lives. She quickly unlocked the door and ran inside the house, excitedly calling for her sister.

"Jessic--!!" Krystal stopped mid-shout, surprised by the audience in front of her. She had only expected to find her parents and her sister at home, but 4 other familiar faces were waiting for her as she walked through the door. Standing before Krystal, grinning from ear to ear, were her four f(x) members. Jessica stood there as well, holding out a beautiful birthday cake with one lit candle on top. A little further behind her members and her sister were Krystal's parents. Her father was video taping the event while her mother was busily snapping pictures of everyone.

"Happy birthday!" the girls shouted, but Krystal just stared back at them in surprise.

"What is this?" she wondered in awe, dazed as the f(x) members swarmed her in a group hug. "Wasn't the party supposed to be tomorrow night?"

"It's a surprise party, stupid," Amber affectionately teased as Sulli and Krystal enjoyed a loving embrace.

"Sulli-ahhhhhh," Krystal cried, holding her arms open to her friend for an individual hug.

"Soojungieeeeee!" Sulli cried back, wrapping up the birthday girl tightly. The two self-proclaimed soul mates had been in constant verbal contact since Sulli went on hiatus, but there had been no physical contact until now. They showered each other with exaggerated kisses to the cheek until Victoria comically stepped in.

"Break it up, break it up," the f(x) leader said, gently pulling Krystal and Sulli apart. She stepped in front of Sulli and pulled Krystal into a hug of her own. "Share the birthday girl with the rest of us," Victoria jokingly chided Sulli.

"Awww, unnie," Sulli protested. "You get to see her more than I do. Let me have her for now. She tried to squeeze herself between Victoria and Krystal, but their hug was too tight to fit her. Krystal laughed as Victoria pulled her out of Sulli's reach.

"Happy birthday, Soo Jung-ah!" Victoria said, placing an affectionate kiss on her forehead. Then she let Krystal go and tried to put Sulli into a headlock for interfering with her hug. Luna took the opportunity to get a hug with Krystal as Victoria and Sulli struggled for dominance in their "fight".

"I'm so proud of you," Luna told Krystal. She surprised the maknae with a backhug while Krystal was busy watching Victoria and Sulli. "You've grown up so well this year!"

"Eh? You think so?" Krystal wondered. She placed her arms on top of Luna's arms encircling her waist. "I still feel the same as I did last year. I don't think I've grown up at all."

"You might not see it, but the rest of us do," Luna said with a wink. She kissed Krystal gently on the cheek and wished her a happy birthday before gently pushing her towards Amber.

"Are you ready?!" Amber roared at Krystal, crouching a bit as she smiled fiercely at the birthday girl. Krystal giggled and nodded, knowing what was about to come. The other f(x) members and Jessica backed away a bit, also knowing what was coming.

"Birthday...HELICOPTER!" Amber shouted, lifting Krystal into the air at the waist. Amber spun in circles while carrying the younger girl, and the room was soon filled with Krystal's laughter. It was somewhat of a tradition for Amber to give birthday helicopters to the f(x) members on their birthdays.

"I really like that," Krystal giggled after her feet finally landed back on the ground.

"I know you do," Amber replied with a smile. "Happy birthday!"

Krystal smiled and touched Amber affectionately on the cheek in thanks for the birthday helicopter. They shared a private look with each other, and Krystal gently bit her lip in embarrassment.

"Eh, aren't you gonna kiss her, hyung?" Sulli mischievously asked Amber. "Come on, birthday kiss! We all gave Soojungie one!"

"Ah, no... I don't do kisses," Amber said awkwardly, giving Krystal a sideways glance. Krystal smiled back at her, knowing that Amber's awkward response was not entirely because of their recently open feelings for each other. For as long as Krystal had known her, Amber was never one for casual kissing.

"It's OK," Krystal said, patting Amber kindly on the head. "I think birthday helicopters are better than birthday kisses anyway."

"Hey, hey, my turn," Jessica called out in a playfully stern voice. She held up the cake for Krystal to see. "Get over here before my arms give out."

Krystal smiled and approached her sister with a playfully stern stare. "You said you wouldn't be back until Saturday."

"Did I?" Jessica asked, pretending that she was confused by Krystal's accusation. "I clearly remember telling you that I was coming home Thursday night so I could surprise you for your birthday."

"Ha ha," Krystal dryly laughed, giving her sister a wry smile. "I really, really missed you, unnie."

"I really, really missed you too, Jung Soo Jung," Jessica replied sincerely. "Come over here for a birthday kiss. I don't do birthday helicopters," she joked, smirking at Amber. Krystal stuck her cheek out and Jessica kissed her. And then Krystal turned to her sister and gave her a kiss on the cheek as well.

"Mom? Dad?" Krystal started to walk toward her mom with pursed lips ready for a kiss, but her mom waved her away and kept taking pictures. "We'll kiss you later, go play."

The party guests laughed at Mama Jung's good sense of humor.

"Hurry up and blow out the candle," Jessica whined. "It's heavy!"

Together, everyone sang happy birthday to Krystal, who was suddenly feeling more cheerful and thankful than she had felt all week. She thought deeply about her wish as the birthday song was being sung. She had too many wishes that she wanted to make. She wished that her relationship with Amber would work out. She wished that f(x) would go on forever. She wished that she would be able to survive the current obstacles of her life. She wished for Jessica's success in her post-SNSD life. She wished for her f(x) members' successes in the post-Red Light era as well. Krystal couldn't decide on any one wish, so instead she picked none of them.

"I wish that everyone in my life will be really happy this year," she wished to herself, generalizing her wish to care for everyone, and blew out the candle on her cake with a smile.

As the surprise birthday party went on, Krystal learned that the party had been planned for tonight since the start. Friday night's plans were a decoy because her managers had expected that she would need to work late on Friday all along.

"So I really have to work late tomorrow?" Krystal asked, and her parents nodded in confirmation. She had been hopeful that her manager had lied about t