Shifting her feet left to right, right to left, fiddling uncontrollably with her fingers behind her back, Nari stood in front of her class teacher, Mr Song. Beads of sweat formed along her forehead as he swivelled his chair to face her, folder in hand.

"Park Nari. I feel like we've never even met. It's almost like you aren't in my class.” He chuckled.

That’s how my plan was supposed to play out for the year… she thought hopelessly.

"Birthday, September 21st, 1994. Oh, Happy Birthday," stopping to smile, he continued, "resides in Myeongil-dong, Seoul. Graduated from Hyundai Junior High School. Mother and father run a restaurant in Myeongil-dong. Has two older siblings. Oh, Chanyeolie! He's your brother?"

"Um, yes, sir," Nari mumbled.

"Interesting." Mr Song his chin in intrigue.

"Um... sir?"

"Oh, yes! I didn't ask you here for your life story, I wanted to talk to you about the arts festival before winter break. Your club president, Gaeun, spoke to me. I hear you're the composer for this year?"

"Uh, yes."

"That is going to require a lot of work, is it not?"

She nodded.

"I know you'll have a lot on your plate for the next month, but I want you to make sure you keep on top of your grades, okay? Exam time always comes faster than you'd hope."

"Yes, sir."

He chuckled with a smile, "Alright, you may go."

Nari’s heart jumped for joy, frantically bowing before scurrying out of the room. She closed the door, leaning against it with a sigh of relief. Lifting off the door, she turned to walk to lunch when her heart tightened in surprise as she almost bumped into Sehun, who was leaning against the wall beside her. She clutched her chest as he glanced at her.

"Gosh, Sehun. You could've coughed or something..." Nari breathed out heavily.

He pushed himself off the wall. "Are you okay?"

"I mean, you gave me a fright but it's not a big deal."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about."

Nari smiled weakly as he came closer, peering into her with his serious eyes.

"I'm fine."

He lifted his eyebrows.

"I'm not six anymore, Sehun. You don't need to talk to the teachers for me,” she added with a brighter smile, moving past him down the hallway.

"Then why are you fidgeting?" Sehun retorted as he caught up to her.

She pressed her trembling hands against the fabric of her skirt, grabbing it in her fists as she ambled to a stop. “I'm getting better, you know? I actually spoke words to him this time."

Sehun’s eyes widened farther than she’d ever seen before, smiling proudly. She couldn’t help but smile back. He pulled her into a hug, lifting her off the ground in a spurt of happiness. He’d been watching her try and fail to speak to teachers for ten years now, of course he was happy!

He buried his face in the crook of her neck and she could feel his smile press through and radiate happiness throughout her body. Nari hesitantly wrapped her arms around him in surprise.

"I'm so proud of you," he mumbled into her neck.

He squeezed her before letting go, placing her gently back on the ground.

"Thanks…” Nari fidgeted with the pleats in her skirt as she avoided his eyes.

As they began back through the hallways to the lunch hall, Sehun spoke up.

"Hey, um, why don't we do something this afternoon to celebrate?" he suggested.

"Celebrate?" Nari replied.

"Yeah, this is a big achievement. And it's kind of your birthday..."

She smiled, being reminded for the umpteenth time that day that it was her birthday. As if the bombardment from her family as she was trying to get changed that morning to wish her a happy birthday wasn’t enough…

"I wish I could." She sighed.

"Why not?”

"The arts festival is getting closer and I'm the main composer. I have to rehearse every day now, you know that."

Sehun slipped his hands into his pocket, his eyes almost glued to the ground as he walked. "You can't even skip just today? For your birthday?"

"It was hard enough telling my brother no, do I have to do it with you too?"

He sighed and every fibre in Nari’s body reacted in immediate anxiety, the guilt flowing all through her body. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it. We can always do something tomorrow,” he reassured her.

"You're coming tonight though, right? My parents are closing the restaurant for a special dinner."

Most birthdays, Nari would spend the afternoon with her friends and have cake with her parents after they closed for the night. However, this year, her parents were feeling unusually excited and generous, and decided to close the restaurant for the night to have a big party along with Jongdae’s family since they shared the same birthday. Nari didn’t really want to have scary adults she barely knew wishing her happy birthday, but she also didn’t really want to say that to the ever-ecstatic face of her mother who was busy organising it all.

"Of course," Sehun replied, ruffling her hair.

He sped up his pace, Nari scurrying along to catch up.

-

Her fingers tapped lightly along the keyboard as she played through her thirteenth draft of her song. She had finally put away her first piece, deciding that more editing would only make it worse, and moved onto overediting her second piece instead.

Kyungsoo sat patiently across the rehearsal room, chin resting on his hands as he stared at Nari. She could see him from the corner of her eyes, tearing her apart with his big, confusing eyes, and she couldn’t help her fidgeting. Her fingers could barely focus on the keys.

She looked up hesitantly from the keyboard, laying her fingers in her lap.

"Sorry..." she began.

"Don't worry about me! Just do what you need to," Kyungsoo replied, waving his hands in disagreement.

"I can't really focus, sunbae."

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