"Yerim-ah, wake up," you cooed at the sleeping figure of your little sister, arms armed with the present you've wrapped neatly and her favourite slice of cake in your hands. 

Your little sister turned twenty-four today and you couldn't believe how much she's grown. You've known this girl for more than a decade now and truly could not imagine your life where she was not in it. You've been through so much together and had your ups and downs, yes, but it would be a lonely, not-so-happy life without her in it. You were sure of that. 

"Hmm," she groaned into her pillow and you chuckled lowly, voice still deep from sleep. You have stayed the night at her place to celebrate her birthday together this year. It's been quite a while since you've been able to spend time just with your little sister, so you thought her birthday was a good time since she was not going back to her hometown until late in the evening and only would be visiting some of the birthday events. She was ecstatic when she heard of your plan and was grateful that she didn't have to be alone. 

But do you really have to wake her up so early in the morning? She's not Irene. 

"Wake up, little sister, a present and a cake are waiting for you~" you sang and she roused from her sleep groggily with the promise of food. 

When her eyes opened, you put the present near her body so you could light up the candle on the cake. You decided to only get her a slice of her favourite cake, knowing that she would get cakes from fans and/or the brand she's working with. You thought it would be best to limit the amount of cake she had to devour and give away, knowing she couldn't eat all those cakes all by herself. 

You knew she'd tried in the past and it was definitely not a good idea. 

"Woah, you got me candles too?" Her eyes were not squinting as much anymore, though her voice was almost as deep as yours from the lack of use during the night. 

You chuckled. "Of course, Yerim-ah, who do you take me for? The best part is when you get to blow the candles!" 

She giggled at your excitement at such an early morning but she appreciated the gesture a lot. It's been a while since she felt special during her birthday, so with you making a big deal out of it and even having candles on her favourite slice of cake was an appreciated gesture. She felt grateful for the yearly birthday cafes and greetings from the fans, of course, but due to growing up and your group not living in the same place anymore, birthdays haven't felt special in a while. 

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday our Yerimmie," her smile widened at the nickname and you brightened up at the sight, "happy birthday to you~" you sang to her though your voice was deeper than usual, making the birthday girl giggle. 

Yeri closed her eyes and put her hands together in prayer before blowing the candle, causing you to cheer. 

"My little sister is growing old now, oh my gosh," you teased and Yeri cackled, slapping your arm only slightly due to the cake you were holding. 

"Unnie! You're older than me!" she cried out and this time you laughed loudly, grateful that Yeri lived in a pretty soundproof environment or her neighbours would definitely not want you to come back. 

"But today is about you! I've known you since you were eleven, Yerim-ah, and you're now twenty-three. How crazy is that?" 

She gasped as she mulled over the fact she had known three of her older sisters from different mothers for half her life. To think that she almost didn't join that one Saturday audition. 

"Wow, that's crazy. I've known you more than half of my life, Unnie," she muttered and you gave her a sisterly smile, patting her tussled hair lovingly.

"And I can't imagine how my life would be without you in it, little sister," you pinched her cheek in affection, "do you want to eat the cake first or open the present first?" 

Yeri was just now aware of the box lying near her and she gasped as she grasped it. "This is a pretty big box, Unnie!" 

"You're so cute," you giggled in response, "wanna open it?" 

Yeri nodded furiously as an answer and you chuckled before putting away the cake on her bedside table, for the time being, so you could focus on her.

She didn't rip into the wrapping paper as she used to do. Instead, she tore the pretty-looking wrapping paper carefully, almost as careful as Irene you thought she had been watching her mother figure open presents so she could copy her. 

When she got to the box, she opened the lid carefully to find a card on top of white gift papers obscuring her view from her gifts. She almost teared up as she read your words written carefully on the paper, knowing how much effort you've put into writing them. She knew you struggled with writing words beautifully and carefully as your brain seemingly worked much faster than your hands, so she knew you probably went the extra steps of writing down your words on your laptop before re-writing them by hand so you wouldn't mess anything up. 

"Unnie... this is beautiful thank you," she looked up at you with loving eyes, "I'm also grateful that we've managed to find a middle ground in our relationship so we can be as close as we are now. I'm so happy you've allowed me to be your little sister and I'm so grateful that I have you in my life. I love you, Eli-unnie."

You smiled lovingly at her, slightly getting up so you could embrace your sister in your arms. "I love you too, sweetheart."

You pulled back from the hug so she could continue with opening her gift. As your first gift came to view, she gasped at the pictures that greeted her. 

"I know you don't have that many picture frames on your walls and I thought this would fit your vibe and remind you of us every time you see it," you explained the meaning behind the decent-sized frame filled with a collage her pictures taken by you and some of it with you in it as well, taken by the other members or you fansites.

For the last one, you've contacted said fansites for the un-touched photos so you could have them however you wanted it in exchange for a signed album or whatever merch they desired. They objected at first, knowing it was a risk contacting them with your real SNS account and they were more than happy to help you with your project, but you insisted and they knew how much you liked giving, so they just said whatever merch first came to mind or something they've always wanted but couldn't get on their own. 

"This is beautiful, Unnie, thank you," Yeri looked up from the gift with teary eyes and you cooed in response, patting her cheek in affection. 

"It was my pleasure, Yerimmie. There are other gifts in there," you decided to clue her in and she gasped, putting away the frame to the side with so much care you almost teared up. You knew from her actions that Yeri really valued the gift. 

As she removed another layer of gift paper, she came across a pretty familiar looking book she once saw in the leader's bedroom. She took it out and read out the words "Yeri's Memories" before opening the book. 

"This is a book filled with pictures of you and some of us that I've taken throughout the years. I put some captions on them of course, but I left some blank so you could write your own," you explained softly, not wanting to break the comfortable ambience in the room.

"I've also left some pages empty so you could put your own pictures in there, which would make sense with the last gift." 

She looked up at you with awe in her eyes. "Unnie, this is too much! You've done so much for me!" 

You laughed at her exclaims, unaware of the affectionate look your little sister was giving you. She truly admired you for who you are, always going above and beyond for your members and trying to get to know them inside and out so all of them could feel loved.

"This is to show you how much I love you! Now, open the last gift. It's the last one, I promise," you couldn't help but giggle, looking at her playful exasperated look. 

She tore open the wrapping paper around the smaller box and gasped in excitement when she realised what it was. 

"You know I've always wanted this! A device to print my own pictures from my phone because I don't have my own Polaroid camera!" 

Your smile widened at the almost buzzing in excitement figure in front of you. "I was thinking of getting your own Polaroid but I figured this would be more effective for you." 

She put away the gifts and the box so they wouldn't get in between her and you before wrapping her arms around your neck in a tight, warm hug. "Thank you so much for the thoughtful gift, Unnie, I love them all and I love you." 

"I love you more, Yerimmie," you sighed out as you brought her closer and felt her melt against your warmth. Your hugs were truly the best, no one could hug her as warm and loving as this. She would be content as long as she had you and the rest of her older sisters, as well as her family, by her side. She would need nothing more than the love she's received from everyone around her.

It was going to be a good birthday with you by her side, that she was sure of.