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Minho snickered to himself as he grabbed the frog from the muddy waters and placed it in a box, placing a lid with holes in it on top and slowly standing up with the box in his hands. He had to think up a good lie to make sure that his mother wouldn’t find out about the special little gift he had for Joohyun. He made his way back into the house and placed the box on the table, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on before reaching to grab the box again only for his father to place his hand on the box.

“What’s in here?” the man asked, Minho slowly smiling and shrugging his shoulders sheepishly.

“...Joohyun’s gift?” he answered. His father raised a doubtful eyebrow before lifting the lid and almost being smacked in the face when the frog leaped out. The older man sighed at his son’s antics, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Son, your mother and I told you to be nice to her today, especially after the ponytail cutting fiasco two years ago. I will not raise a son that doesn’t respect women,” his father said firmly, causing Minho to sigh and nod in understanding. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect Joohyun, he just didn’t like her, he didn’t like anything about her. She was always so stuck up and full of herself and she acted like she was better than him even though she was just some dumb girl from the country.

Minho sulked in the backseat of his parents’ car as they drove to Daegu, the young boy angry that he hadn’t gotten the chance to give Joohyun her frog present. He was also annoyed because he knew she would be making a big deal about herself since it was her birthday. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was throwing some big party, had a nice fancy dress she would show off, had a bunch of rich people over so she could get tons of expensive presents, and of course, she’d make sure to point out how fat he was with a big happy smile. He sighed when the car stopped outside of Joohyun’s house and his parents climbed out, the young boy slowly making his way out and following them. As the family approached the entrance, the distinct sound of shouting became more and more clear.

“Hyukjae, I cannot believe you’ve done this! It’s Joohyun’s birthday!”

“For 's sake Saehee, I know that! That’s why I came!”

“But you brought that !”

“ off you old hag, I’m not a !”

“You shut up before I slap you back to the gutter you came from!” Minho’s parents slowly entered the house, Minho behind them and seeing three adults shouting at each other. The house was clearly decorated for a party, with signs saying “Happy Birthday, Joohyun!” and decorations everywhere. Only, there were no other people, and Joohyun was standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching as the adults fought. Like he thought, she had on a fancy dress and her hair was styled nicely, but instead of smiling, she looked...sad.

“I want her out of my home!” Joohyun’s mother shouted, “I will not allow a from the slums to ruin my baby’s birthday!”

“Slums?!” the other woman gasped before the man grabbed a cake from the table and smashed it against his ex-wife’s face. The young woman continued her boyfriend’s attack by shoving Irene’s mother, causing her to fall against a wrapped gift that audibly broke. Joohyun screamed and stared with wide eyes, the entire room freezing when they all realized it was her birthday cake and her gift that was destroyed. Joohyun ran off with tears streaming down her cheeks and all the adults slowly began to realize what they had done.

Joohyun sat behind the house with her knees hugged in her arms as she cried into them, wishing she could just run away and hide forever. She heard footsteps but refused to look up, figuring it was her mother or father coming to apologize. She kept her head down for a few minutes before finally looking up, blinking in surprise when she looked up to see Minho offering her a cupcake and a flower.

“...Mama brought cupcakes...and I found the flower in the yard...” he explained quietly as he kept his hands out. Joohyun stared for a moment before slowly looking down again and starting to cry again. Minho frowned a little and sat next to her, placing the cupcake and flower down on the ground.

“I’m sorry adults are dumb. But you’ll have another birthday next year and you’ll be a teenager! That’s cool! Then soon you can move out and have your own birthday parties! So it’ll be okay, just think that next year will be better!” Minho smiled at her, hoping his pep talk worked.

“Minho, let’s go honey!” his mother called out, causing Minho to jump up and rush towards the back door. Before walking inside, he turned and looked at Joohyun, “It’ll be okay, just think about next year!” With that, he walked inside to leave with his parents. Joohyun raised her head once he was gone and took the cupcake, peeling off the wrapper and taking a bite, a small smile on her lips.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you all so much for subscribing, upvoting, and reading. Comments are greatly appreciated!