It was the day you had been looking forward to. It's your guardian's birthday and she's turning thirty, which you couldn't fathom. 

How can someone be this gorgeous and youthful at thirty? 

Because you considered it as a milestone, you wanted to make this birthday as special as it could get. You knew she was expecting you to pamper her with gifts or do something special, which was why you were going to say that you had a sudden schedule all day and would be back at night to eat with the rest of the members. 

She's going to be disappointed and sad, which you hate with all your soul, but it'd be worth it.

You originally wanted to just leave her since morning and leave a note, along with clues that the members were going to give throughout the day so she would still receive your love through the little gifts, but you decided it would be just too cruel so you did the next best thing. 

It was early morning, and she was still asleep. She usually wakes up the earliest out of all of you but knowing that it's her birthday, you knew she'd decide to just sleep in before she had to get ready for her "birthday party" with Luvies that would be streamed from the company. 

You took her favourite carrot cake that you'd learnt from Wendy how to make from the fridge and put a candle on it, lighting it up. You brought the cake to her room and opened the door without knocking, wanting to make your presence a real surprise. 

You opened the door to see her lithe figure sleeping soundly under the blanket and you involuntarily smiled before closing the door softly and making your way to her bed. You sat down next to her figure and shook her awake. 

"Hyun-unnie, wake up." You her hair softly, kissing her smooth forehead. After a few seconds she woke up, groaning slightly before opening her eyes to the movement. 

She blinked a few times to adjust her vision so she could see you clearer and the cake that she now realised was her favourite. Her eyes widened in surprise and a happy grin formed on her lips. 

"Eli-ah! What's this?" Her voice was still deep, laced with sleep though her genuine happiness could clearly be heard. You gave her her favourite smile, scooting closer and began singing. 

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday lovely Joohyun-unnie," you looked at her with love and warmth in your eyes, which made her smile softly and blushed slightly. "Happy birthday to you." 

Irene gripped your wrist in hers before closing her eyes, making her wish and opening them again as she blew the one candle on her cake. "Yay! Happy birthday, Unnie, I love you!"

She chuckled at your enthusiasm. "Thank you, I love you so much." She leaned in to wrap her arms around your waist and you kissed the top of her head, savouring her warmth. 

"Should we eat the cake now, Unnie?" You broke the comfortable silence while making sure you didn't disturb the atmosphere. She hummed for a bit before nodding her head into your shoulder, making you chuckle. 

She's just too cute. 

She pulled back from the hug to start eating the cake. "Did you make this?" 

Your eyes widened a little. "How did you know?" 

"This is my favourite cake and it looks just like Seungwan's. Considering she's not allowed to do any heavy lifting yet, I'm guessing she taught you how to do it?" 

Your eyes widened in wonder a little bit more, making her giggle adorably, trying to hide the pink dust on her cheeks by eating a spoonful of cake. "Wow, you amaze me every day." 

"Yah!" She slapped the arm that was closest to her whilst being careful so you wouldn't drop her cake. "How are you so... flirty?" 

You just gave her a wink, knowing her cheeks would redden even more. You were proven correct. "It's a skill, Hyun-unnie." 

After eating the cake you went back to your room to get ready. You still hadn't told her about you not being able to spend most of the day with her but you're sure she'd be pouting and looking like a sad bunny. After you were finished, you texted Manager-unnie to text Irene about your sudden schedule so she wouldn't be suspicious. Whenever there's a solo schedule, Irene would always be in the loop to keep track of all the members, so her not knowing about your very sudden schedule would be out of the norm. 

After waiting for a few minutes, you went out the door to find her already there, a sad pout on her face. 

"Do you really have to go?" Her voice was small and sadness clearly laced in it, making you frown and your heart hurt. You actually considered blowing the whole thing just to see her smile and happy again. 

"I'm sorry, Unnie," you gathered her in your arms, kissing the top of her head lovingly. She melted into your touch and wrapped her arms around your waist a little tighter, not wanting to let you go. 

"I was so looking forward to spending the day with you but as Manager-unnie said, I had to do this." You hugged her tighter. "I hate them so much right now." 

Irene pulled back from the hug slightly to look up at you, her gaze still sad but it's laced with understanding. "It's okay, Eli-ah. A job is a job." She gave you a hesitant smile. "We'll still be able to eat dinner together, right?" 

"Of course, Unnie," you kissed her forehead then. "I'd make sure I'd be home by then, okay?" 

She nodded cutely but sadly. "Promise?" 

You couldn't help but smile at her cuteness. "Promise!" 

She eventually let out a genuine smile, hugging you one more time before pulling back to let you go. "I guess you have to leave now. Be safe and enjoy your schedule, alright? Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." 

"I will," you gave her your special smile, making her let out a beaming smile. Well, at least she got to enjoy that smile of yours. 

"I love you, Hyun-unnie."

She kissed your cheek softly. "I love you too, El." 

With that, the plan was in motion. You left the dorm and texted the girls (in a new group chat because you didn't want to alert your guardian of her surprise) that you were leaving and to be ready to give her the clues throughout the day. After getting the confirmation you needed, you were ready to make the journey to pick up a very special someone. 

"Okay, let's pull this off, Unnie." 

Your manager looked back at you from her position at the driver's seat. "She'll be ecstatic, I promise you that." 

You gave her a grin and nodded in thanks, pulling out your phone to text someone. You were originally going to have Irene's family here for her birthday but she did go home a few days ago as all of you had quite a long break. So, you did the next best thing. Irene hadn't been able to see her Purple Friend for quite a while now and you knew she'd love to have her here, so you decided to bring her to Irene. You've been missing her too anyway. 

Your phone rang and you saw that it was the maknae. "Unnie, I know we wanted to give her the first clue in a few hours but she'd been pouting and moping for a while now. Should we give it to her now?"

You giggled at the vision of Irene lounging in the sofa, pouting and moping about you being gone on her birthday. How's she thirty already?

"Aw, poor Joohyun-unnie. It's okay, Yerimmie, go ahead and give her the first clue. Hopefully, she wouldn't suspect that I don't actually have a schedule." 

You heard Yeri's chiming giggles from the other end of the phone. "We'll make sure she doesn't Unnie. Be back soon, okay? We miss you already." 

You let out a soft smile at the remark. Who knew she would be the one to complain about how clingy you were in the past. "I miss you too, sweetheart. I'll see you tonight, okay?" 

"Okay. Bye, Unnie."

"Bye-bye." 

Back at the dorm, Irene was given a clue to where her present was at. She'd been told by the youngest that you had planned a treasure hunt for her and were planning to conduct it yourself but because you were away, you had asked the girls to give her the clues instead. 

"Clues? There are more than one?" 

Joy smiled. "Yeeees, Unnie, now go find it!" 

The clue told her to head to your room and look for something in your bedside table. She'd been told that she's been obsessing over it and that it would look good on her, so she figured it would be something to wear. 

As she opened the drawer she found a decent-sized purple bag that had a sticker of a bunny on it, making her chuckle. That was definitely for her. 

She opened the bag to find a couple of ribbons, colours ranging from navy blue to a pretty lilac. She cooed at the sight before reading the note that came with the bag. 

'I know how much you love these and how good you look with these! I hope you wear one today :)' 

Well, she definitely would be wearing the one in your favourite colour to her birthday party stream. 

Throughout the day she'd found little gifts that were so her but also so you to give. You always give people what they like or what they might need and these are definitely the things that she liked. She found cute bunny stickers that she'd been mentioning to you to put on her new phone case. She found a new pair of sunflower earrings in her jewellery drawers, sitting delicately next to a pendant with her initial on it to put in one of her chains. She got gifted a bouquet of her favourite flowers during a lunch with her stylist and a couple of people from you (she didn't know how you'd arrange this but she was clued that she'd receive something she deserved to receive more often). 

She was very much touched and didn't know that you had planned this so thoroughly, making her love you even more. When she became your guardian, she didn't know that she would receive so much gratitude and love from you, and it's moments like this that reminded her that's she's loved and appreciated. 

When it was time for her stream, she opened the door to the meeting room the staff had set up for her Instagram live, complete with a birthday cake and coloured pens to do her drawing. She'd planned to show the fans her baby pictures and to draw something out of it, which she later promised to post. 

It was time to sing herself the birthday song which she was embarrassed to do but she remembered you singing that to her that morning, which made her let out a shy smile. 

"Doing this alone is so embarrassing. At least Eli was the one singing it to me this morning." That comment made literally everyone freak out, commenting about how sweet you were and some people to wonder whether the other members were there too because she only mentioned you.

She saw that comment and only let out a sly smirk, not saying anything before proceeding to sing the birthday song and blow her candles, only to squeal in surprise at the party poppers the staff pulled out. She was laughing in joy and excitement when the door to the room opened and the fans could see how her attention turned towards the door and her smile turned into surprise, a hand over . 

"Eli!" She exclaimed and her surprise only added when she saw her friend behind you, holding a beautiful arrangement of flowers. 

"Did you pick her up? What are you doing here?" Irene stood up and went out of the frame for a little while but the fans could hear the commotion happening behind the camera.

She hugged her friend first, carefully mentioning her name softly so the camera wouldn't pick it up. She was so happy to see her. "What are you doing here? How did you  get here?" 

Purple-unnie grinned, motioning to you. "Eli picked me up. She wanted to surprise you." 

Irene turned towards you with shock still evident in her expression before hugging you tightly, making you laugh and the staff to coo at the interaction. She looked like she wanted to hug the living daylight out of you. 

"So you didn't have an actual schedule?" Her muffled voice could be heard from your chest and she felt the rumbles of your laughter. 

"Can you even breathe in there, Unnie?" You giggled even more when she pulled back with an adorable pout on her face. 

"You lied to me!" She punched your arm a few times which made everyone laugh. "Eli, why did you lie to me!" 

Your loud laugh could be heard and the fans in the comments were wondering what you did to receive some scolding from the birthday girl. 

"I'm sorry, Unnie. I wanted to make you happy with your surprise and you are, aren't you?" 

She calmed herself and a playful annoyed expression made it into her face but you saw traces of glee in her eyes. "I am but why did you lie to me?!" 

Her loud voice and satoori were starting to come out, letting everyone know that she's being genuine about her emotions. "Well, you had fun with the treasure hunt, didn't you?" 

She pouted again. "I did but I'd prefer you to spend the day with me." 

You and the staff cooed while Purple-unnie let out an offended fake gasp. "Then why am I here? Should I go?" 

"Yah!" Irene turned her attention to her friend. "I'm so glad you're here, thank you for making the trip." 

She gave her longtime friend a smile. "Of course, Joohyunnie. I'll wait here while you spend time with your fans, okay?" 

That reminded everyone of what was happening. "Right, Eli come with me." She took your hand in hers and pulled you towards where the party was happening.

"But Unnie," you frowned in confusion. "It's your birthday event. The fans are here to see you." 

Irene gave you a soft smile, all traces of annoyance and surprise gone only to be replaced with warmth. "I know they wouldn't mind you being there for the remainder of my broadcast. Come." 

You gave your bag to your manager before making your way to the front of the camera, hands intertwined with the leader. 

A seat was placed next to hers and you sat down, smiling brightly at the camera. 

"Everyone, Eli is here!" 

"Hello!" You bowed your head a little and gave the camera a wave.

"Should we tell them what you did to me today?" 

You turned to her with whines leaving your lips. "You made it sound I did something terrible to you!" 

She gave you a playful glare. "You lied to me! You promise to never lie to me and you did!" 

You pouted, poking her before turning to the camera. "I promise you guys that I only lied to give her a surprise. Is that so wrong guys? Tell me. Defend me!" You playfully demanded, making Irene slap your arm. 

"Now you're the one who's making me look like the bad guy." 

"Because you are!" You stuck your tongue out at her, making her let out an offended gasp. 

"Elizabeth!" You scooted away from her to evade her slaps, making the staff laugh and the fans to comment even more. They loved seeing the playful banter between the members like this. 

Later that day, Irene ended the day on Lysn to send her gratitude towards the fans for always supporting her and to her members for making the day very special. She was scared of turning thirty before but her members and the fans made it bearable and made her feel very grateful for the life that she had. 

"Thank you for the surprise, Eli-ah, I loved it." 

You opened your eyes and looked at her lying figure beside you, seeing that she was already looking at you. She wanted to spend the night in your room so she could let her friend sleep in her room, as per the members' permission of course. They all agreed that it would be safer for her to stay at the dorm rather than at a hotel nearby. Plus, she had more reason to sleep in your room, not that she needed any. You'd let her sleep in your room anytime she wanted. 

"I'm sorry for lying to you, Unnie, I just wanted to make this birthday extra special for you." 

She let out that favourite smile of yours. "And you did. I'm so thankful to have you in my life and I hope you know that." 

You gave her your own smile and a soft kiss on her forehead. "I know." 

She kissed your cheek before snuggling closer to your neck, eyes closing off to finally end the day. 

"I love you, El." 

"I love you too, Unnie. Always."