After Hyejoo had finished recording her V live for her birthday, she was in high spirits when she headed back to the dorms, knowing that the members would be awaiting her arrival to celebrate the special occasion with a huge party. She just could not contain her excitement, as this would be her first time to celebrate it as an official member of LOONA this year. Ah, how ecstatic she was to finally debut as the last member and to receive so much love from fellow Orbits this year! She had been given the stage name of Olivia Hye (thankfully not Adam) and released her solo album 'Egoist' - which received a lot of support and positive feedback from the public. 

 

Hyejoo was pretty content with her life as of now, even if practice and rehearsals was pretty exhausting at times. But, as long she had her family, her members, Orbits, and her Playstation, everything was fine and dandy. Oh, and her beautiful girlfriend (soulmate) Chaewon of course!

 

As she was approaching the dorms, she felt her steps getting lighter and finally, runs into the room with loud cheers and warm, smiling faces welcoming her as she opens the door. She was tugged into a bear hug by her same-aged member, Yerim and found it very hard to breathe.

 

"Hyejoo!!!" Yerim tightens her hold around the girl's neck and almost suffocates her, "Happy birthday my dear friend!"

 

"I appreciate the gesture Yerim-ah but I really can't breathe right now!" Hyejoo giggles into the nook of Yerim's neck . The girl was still reluctant and did not let go until she was yanked by her sub-unit's leader, Jungeun.

 

"Oi Yerim! You're going to kill Hyejoo before she even gets to eat the cake," Jungeun stares at Hyejoo before enveloping her into the same bear hug like Yerim did before.

 

"Son Hyejoo, my baby! You've already grown up so fast!" Jungeun the girl's hair and rubs her cheeks against Hyejoo's incredibly fluffy cheeks. The onlooking members tried to stifle their laughter since it was unusual for Jungeun to show the slightest affection to anyone, even if they were her own group members. Hyunjin was the first one to break the silence however, cackling and slapping her thighs repeatedly while Heejin tries to scold her and ultimately fails since she shortly threw a fit of laughter as well. Jungeun detached herself from Hyejoo, incredibly red-faced, and chases the 2Jin pair around the dorm in circles. Hyejoo was utterly dumbfounded and just scratched her head in response. She suddenly felt a pair of hands on her stomach as someone familiar wrapped her from behind, and immediately complies by nuzzling the older girl leaning on her shoulder.

 

"Hyejoo, happy birthday."

 

"Thank you, Chae!"

 

Yeojin pretends to gag by the public display of affection by her unnies and scampered away to Haseul's side when Chaewon shoots her a death glare, and pokes her tongue out to annoy the blonde girl. Hyejoo smiled sympathetically and clutched her girlfriend's hands tighter in an attempt to not frighten the maknae, which was a miraculous success. Sooyoung eventually pulled the two girls away from each other so the party could be continued.

 

"Okay, that's enough you lovebirds! You can get your turn again when we give our 'presents' to Hyejoo hmm?" Sooyoung says teasingly to Chaewon. The blonde mouths a curse to her leader as a tinge of red coloured her cheeks.

 

"You guys prepared presents for me?"

 

Jiwoo links her arms around Hyejoo's in a matter of seconds and tilted her head adorably at her. "Yep! We all prepared something special for baby wolf Hyejoo on her birthday today~"

 

***

 

A few hours ago

 

"Hey guys! Can we all kiss Hyejoo as her birthday present?"

 

"Yerim-ah, you really want to be buried alive by Chaewon don't you?" Jinsol questions, her eyes catching the way Chaewon flinched at the question. Yerim pouts and playfully stomps her foot.

 

"It's not fair that Chaewon-unnie gets to hog Hyejoo all to herself!"

 

"It is if I say so," Chaewon growls under her breath as she arranged the plates on the dining table for the party. Yerim feels a chill in her spine from the amount of venom dripping in the blonde's words. Jiwoo suddenly shows up beside Yerim and raises her arm as to voice her support for the girl. "Yeah, I agree with Yerim! I haven't been able to cuddle Hyejoo lately because of her death grip on our baby wolf!"

 

"Sooyoung-unnie would hate it if you laid your hands on anyone else other than her."

 

"No she wouldn't!" 

 

"Yes, I would." Sooyoung coldly says, her arms s around Jiwoo's waist as she pops out of nowhere and brought her girlfriend closer to her. She wasn't going to deal again with the bitterness of her girl being all cozy with other members and shoving it straight up in her face. Jiwoo yelped in suprise, her ears letting out invisible steam as Sooyoung boldly reminded everyone that the latter was only her's.

 

Jungeun rolled her eyes thoughtfully at the shameless couple but nods in agreement with Yerim's statement. Everyone has been so caught up with promotions that there was barely any time to spend with the birthday girl. No one could have bought Hyejoo a birthday present due to the tight schedule the company arranged for all of them so it'd be best to just shower Hyejoo with affection as her present this year.

 

"I'm gonna agree with Yerim on this one guys. I'm sure Chaewon wouldn't mind us having a little bit of skinship with Hyejoo, right?" Jungeun flashed a devilish grin, obviously trying to stir up something in the blonde girl.

 

"I -"

 

"Yeah! We all should give kisses to Hyejoo as presents!" Yeojin interjected. Before Chaewon could give a response, a stream of cheers filled up the dorms in a matter of seconds, leaving her the only one who was quite against this idea. Jiwoo also managed to convince Sooyoung to let her join in the fun with her puppy eyes that she knew was the older girl's main weakness. All the members turned to stare at Chaewon, waiting for her decision. She was very intimidated and it didn't help that this was a 11 vs 1 match that she couldn't win. Finally, she gave in.

 

"Ok, fine! I'll let you guys spoil Hyejoo just this once!"

 

"Hurrah! Okay, since we finally got Chaewon-unnie's permission, let's draw lots on which part of Hyejoo's body should we get to kiss!" Yerim excitedly chirps in while holding a box full of ice-cream sticks.

 

"When did you even prepare that?"

 

"Shush! You don't need to know that."

 

Chaewon furrowed her eyebrows. "Of course I need to know since I'm her ing girl-"

 

"I'll draw first!" Heejin shouted, pulling out an ice-cream stick with some words written on it. She instantly grinned like crazy.

 

"I get to kiss her left hand!"

 

All the other members scrambled to the box, wanting to draw as well.

 

"I got her forehead!"

 

"I got her nose!"

 

"I got her left cheek!"

 

"I got her eyelids?"

 

"I got her head.."

 

"I got her left ear!"

 

"Well I've got her right ear!"

 

"Got her right cheek!"

 

Chaewon reached for the remaining ice-cream sticks. She was kinda disappointed with her choice. "I got her right hand."

 

Everyone turned to look at Yerim who was the only person who was yet to draw. When she brought the ice-cream stick up, hey eyes had a glint of mischief in them.

 

"I got her lips~~" she says, puckering her lips towards the rest of the members. Furious was an understatement to describe Chaewon's state right now.

 

"What??? I didn't know her lips would serve as an option!" Chaewon snatched Yerim's ice-cream stick out of her hands to observe it closely. "I demand a redraw!"

 

The sound of footsteps gradually getting more audible alarmed the whole dorm since the preparations were still not finished. Hyunjin patted Chaewon on the back and shook her head. 

 

"We don't have time for that. Just enjoy the sight of Yerim smooching Hyejoo yeah?" she said in a mocking tone. Chaewon was close to snapping.

 

"You'd act the same if anyone else got to kiss Heejin you barking bread enthusiast-"

 

The door suddenly opens with the sight of a beautiful dark-haired girl standing while smiling widely.

 

"Happy birthday!"

 

***

 

"Since we've finally finished eating the cake and somehow managed to not start some sort of food fight," Haseul glared at Chaewon and Yeojin who had cake all over them, "It's time for the main event for tonight!"

 

Hyejoo looked around the dorm to find all the members weirdly excited as they stared at her. What kind of birthday present was she going to receive from them? She was getting more curious when they all stood up and approached closer to her.

 

"Son Hyejoo," Heejin put her hands on both of Hyejoo's shoulders and firmly gripped them, "As your birthday present, you shall have the honour of receiving a kiss from each member of LOONA!!!"

 

Everyone let out a cheer but Hyejoo was just dumbfounded. She was actually going to receive a k-kiss, from each and everyone of her members??? Did Chaewon even approve of this? She knew how jealous the blonde girl could get when anyone tries to touch the dark-haired girl. 

 

"Um, did Chae say anything about this...?"

 

Heejin nodded enthusiastically. "Don't worry! She doesn't mind any of this happening!"

 

Hyejoo raised an eyebrow, feeling suspicious of Heejin's unusually high-pitched tone and let her eyes roamed the dorm in sight for the blonde girl but alas, she was nowhere to be found. 

 

"Without further ado, I shall open this ceremony!" Heejin announced and grabbed her left hand to her lips, placing a soft peck on it. Hyejoo did not expect that. The older girl rubbed her thumb across her hand in an affectionate manner while gazing ever so softly at Hyejoo with gentle eyes. Hyejoo felt her heartbeat quicken.

 

"Happy birthday, Hyejoo. We're so thankful to have you as a member of LOONA."

 

Hyejoo felt her eyes beginning to get moist after hearing such a genuine and heartfelt greeting from the founder of LOONA.

 

"Thank you, Heejin-unnie."

 

Their moment together didn't even last for a split second before Hyunjin intervened, forcibly shoving Heejin to the side in which the latter yelped with an annoyed 'Hey, I wasn't finished yet!' to which Hyunjin responds with a mere shrug followed by a 'You were taking too long.

 

Hyejoo's eyes were met with Hyunjin's slightly playful eyes as her chin was being tilted upwards by the older girl's slightly bigger hands. Was she going in for her lips??? Hyejoo braced herself for the worst until she felt some warmth on her nose, rather than her lips.

 

"... Eh?" Hyejoo unconsciously rubbed the spot on her nose, feeling a bit silly for getting her hopes up high.

 

"Psyched." Hyunjin poked out her tongue, "Happy birthday, Hyejoo!"

 

Hyejoo was still red-faced but she managed to smile in response. She finds herself being pulled away from Hyunjin and into the arms of Haseul with Kahei by her side. They both grinned before placing a peck on both side of her ears. 

 

"Happy birthday Hyejoo!"

 

The dark-haired girl smiled warmly and mouthes a thank you in response. She was finally starting to see the pattern of this ceremony and expected the next girl to be Yeojin. The youngest member is beside her of course but, she seemed to be struggling as she kept standing on her tippy toes repeatedly. It finally clicks an idea in Hyejoo's mind.

 

"Are you supposed to kiss my cheek but you're just too short to reach it?" 

 

Yeojin grumbled and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not short! You're just too tall!" Hyejoo starts to giggle before getting a light slap on her arm by the maknae.

 

"Stop laughing! Now, if you could just... bend over a bit..." Hyejoo complies with lowering her body just slightly so Yeojin could cup her face and place her lips against the older girl's left cheek. 

 

"Son Hyejoo, happy birthday! I'm still younger than you by the way~" Yeojin says in a singsong voice while Hyejoo just whips her head backwards in laughter. "Yes, I know that already Yeojin! Your birthday was just a few days ago," Hyejoo reminisced and was already being spun around by Jungeun with a oddly attractive smirk plastered on her face. The younger girl swallowed the lump in , already feeling knots in her stomach.

 

"I guess it's my turn now~!" Jungeun cupped the younger girl's cheeks while softly pecking both of Hyejoo's tightly shut eyelids. When she fluttered her eyes open, her cheeks were blushing with the sight of Jungeun patting her head and just gazing lovingly at her.

 

"Hyejoo, my second baby (the first baby was Yerim), happy birthday dear!"

 

Hyejoo softly hums her response, too dazed and overwhelmed by the amount of love she was receiving today. Was she allowed to be so happy right now? Jungeun then pulls Jinsol in by the arm and whispered something in her ear, before giggling and placing a light kiss on the shell of her ear. Hyejoo has always admired the couple's relationship and how (disgustingly) cute they were with each other. Jinsol had now replaced Jungeun and Hyejoo felt her cheeks being cupped for what must've been the nth time now. 

 

"Happy birthday, Hyejoo-yah!" Jinsol cheekily smiles and pressed her lips against the dark-haired girl's forehead. She took quite longer than the other members, making Hyejoo become quite the mess. Jinsol steps back and chuckles, before blowing a kiss in her direction and walking back to Junguen's side. Well, that was quite... something.

 

Sooyoung was about to give the next kiss to Hyejoo before Jiwoo abruptly halted her. 

 

"Wait! Isn't it supposed to be Yerim's turn now?" Sooyoung turned to Jiwoo and put her hand on the latter's shoulder. "Chaewon dragged her somewhere to 'settle' something. She told me to to go first if it took longer than necessary."

 

Jiwoo's lips formed into an 'o' shape and retreated back to her spot and waited patiently for her turn to kiss Hyejoo after her girlfriend did. Sooyoung carefully placed both of her hands on Hyejoo's temples and lightly pecked the younger girl's head, not missing the smell of her new shampoo.

 

"Unnie," Hyejoo tries not to giggle by covering , "I heard that kisses on someone's head are usually given between the parent and the child!"

 

Sooyoung smiles, amused by Hyejoo's unexpected reaction and ruffles her hair. "We are somewhat like mother and daughter, aren't we? You and that little gremlin Chaewon."

 

"I guess we are." Hyejoo quietly snickers at the nickname Sooyoung had given to Chaewon until she is wrapped into the leader's embrace.

 

"Happy birthday, Hyejoo."

 

Hyejoo lets out a hum of satisfaction, tightening her grip on Sooyoung's back and finally lets go of the older girl. When she is rammed and pinned down to the floor by someone's weight, Hyejoo is reminded of the person that comes after Sooyoung.

 

"HYEJOO-YAH! MY BABY WOLF, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" Jiwoo smothers the younger girl's cheeks with sloppy kisses that probably had no chance of stopping until Sooyoung drags the brunette away from Hyejoo. The latter was not surprised by the amount of affection she was going to receive from Jiwoo but she was still too stunned to comprehend what had happened.

 

"Jiwoo! You probably shocked Hyejoo with that surprise attack!" Sooyoung passive aggressively shouted to the brunette standing in front of her.

 

"But I think Hyejoo kinda liked it..."

 

"Well I didn't like it. You never gave me those type of cheek kisses!"

 

"I can give it to you some other time Sooyoung!"

 

"No." Sooyoung's eyes turned dark, the kind of eyes that Jiwoo would always see before the older girl would do some suggestive things to her. Jiwoo felt her face burning.

 

"I want you to give them to me now."

 

Sooyoung swept Jiwoo by her feet and carried her bridal-style into the slightly cramped dressing room while getting hit repeatedly on the shoulder by a reluctant Jiwoo who kept screaming stuff like 'stop being ridiculous!' and 'we just did it last night!' and whatnot. In a matter of seconds, said dressing room had became silent, and Jiwoo's reluctant screams had magically transformed into soft moans and airy whispers of the name 'Sooyoung'. All the members tried to heed no attention to the very shameless couple with Haseul muttering under her breath that Sooyoung was a freaking animal, Jungeun and Yeojin were making gagging noises, Jinsol facepalmed herself, Hyunjin covered a confused Heejin's ears before sighing tiredly, and Kahei alongside Hyejoo pretending to not be affected even though the intense blush on their faces proved otherwise. Haseul the stereo and played their debut song 'Hi High' at maximum volume to shut out any 'unwanted' and 'obscene' noises.

 

"Much better..."

 

"I didn't know Jiwoo was that loud!"

 

"Loud? What are they talking about Hyun?

 

"... You don't need to know."

 

"That's your 97- liner friend right?"

 

"I don't know what you're talking about Haseul. Isn't she your friend?

 

Suddenly, Yerim appeared before the members and stopped to catch her breath, making it seem that she had just ran a few miles before entering the living room.

 

"H-HEY GUYS, I'M F-FINALLY HERE!-" All the members turned to stare at Yerim with a blank expression.

 

"U-Uh, did I miss anything big when I was gone?"

 

All the members shook their heads in perfect synch without missing a beat. Yerim raised an eyebrow but could care less about the awfully suspicious atmosphere in the room and the sudden blast of the stereo replaying 'Hi High' repeatedly at full volume. "What took you so long anyway?" Jungeun asked.

 

Yerim rolled her eyes, groaning in frustration in remembrance of the recent 'talk' she had with Chaewon earlier.

 

***

 

"Yerim-ah! You've got to let me kiss Hyejoo's lips!"

 

Yerim smirked and began to twirl the strands of her hair with her fingers. "Unnie, it's going to take much more than a plea to convince me you know!"

 

Chaewon gritted her teeth, getting very impatient with the younger girl's reluctance of being cooperative. An idea finally forms in her mind and she thinks this will be the finishing blow.

 

"Oh? Well, I know something you don't know, Yerim-ah," Chaewon smiles sweetly. Yerim instantly frowns.

 

"What is it?"

 

"Yeojin came to me the other day to complain some... stuff to me. She seemed quite unhappy, the poor girl." Chaewon tsked while waving her index finger. That, got a promising reaction from the latter. She shakes Chaewon's shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

 

"Yeojin? Give me more context unnie!"

 

"You'll just have to switch places with me and you got yourself a deal."

 

"Ugh, fine whatever!" Chaewon flashes her victory grin, leaving Yerim defeated and glum when she falls to the floor. She couldn't believe she just gave up without a fight. The power of Chaewon made her shudder with terror, in fear of what other future plans she might have up in her sleeve.

 

"Anyways, I think you should probably get going now. They might be waiting for you" Chaewon points to the door.

 

", you're right!" Yerim dashes out of the door and she hears Chaewon shout after her 'Make sure you tell Hyejoo that I'll be waiting here!'

 

***

 

"So, what are we waiting for? Kiss the birthday girl already Yerim!"

 

All the members lined up on the side, looking expectantly at Yerim's supposed kiss on Hyejoo's lips. Little did they know that she had already made a deal with Chaewon earlier. Yerim brings Hyejoo's hand to her face, observing it and finally placing a short peck.

 

"Happy birthday, my same-aged friend! I'm so glad we got to debut together!" Yerim flashes a toothy grin. Hyejoo was a bit dumbstruck by the lack of affection she got since she expected the girl to give the most kisses to her. Regardless, she accepts the short gesture wholeheartedly with a smile and a quick hug and a pat on the back with the girl.

 

"Thank you so much, Yerim."

 

Yerim returns the hug and nuzzles her head on Hyejoo's shoulder, taking in the warmth and comfort the latter provided. In the meanwhile, the other members were all dumbfounded. They all looked at each other with furrowed eyebrows and a shrug of the shoulder. Wasn't Yerim suppose to kiss Hyejoo on her lips, and not on her hand? 

 

"Ah Hyejoo! I forgot to tell you that Chaewon-unnie is waiting for you in the yyxy dorm," Yerim informs Hyejoo.

 

"Oh really? Then I'll best be going then!" Hyejoo made her way to the hall but pokes her head out behind the wall, "Thanks for telling me Yerim!"

 

The positivity pill waved her hand goodbye and felt her shirt being tugged and when she looked around, she saw seven pairs of eyes staring oddly at her.

 

"Hey, what was that all about?!" Hyunjin demanded, while the other member bobbed their heads up and down. Yerim gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes then shortly eyeing Yeojin in the corner of her eye, who returned a worried expression to the latter.

 

"It's a long story."

 

***

 

Hyejoo enters the yyxy dorm that was dimly lit and wonders if Chaewon was actually here since there seemed to be no sign of her presence in the dorm. She felt someone yank her to the side with incredible strength and almost jumped out of her skin until a familiar scent washed over her nose, making her feel nostalgic. Chaewon had held on to the back of Hyejoo's shirt while resting her head on the younger girl's chest. Hyejoo fondly smiles and starts to her girlfriend's hair, very much missing the warmth she held.

 

"Hey Chae. Why weren't you in the living room earlier?"

 

The blonde refused to answer and instead, starts placing little pecks all over Hyejoo's collarbone which made the dark-haired girl shudder. Still, she wanted to get an answer out of the blonde so she continued asking while trying very hard to not get distracted by the warmth of her girlfriend's lips.

 

"-Ah, come on Chae," Hyejoo gripped Chaewon's shoulders hard and managed to push her back slightly so she could talk with the blonde.

 

"I was jealous."

 

Hyejoo smirked at the adorable pout that was visible on Chaewon's face.

 

"Hmm, I knew that~"

 

"Then why'd you make me say it?!"

 

"Just wanted to hear the real answer from you."

 

Chaewon turned away from Hyejoo and folded her arms, and acted like she was upset though that could never happen seeing as she was deeply infatuated with the dark-haired girl. The younger girl softly chuckles and wraps her arms around Chaewon from behind like the latter did earlier.

 

"Meanie."

 

"You love me for it~"

 

Chaewon slightly turns her head so she could kiss the left side of Hyejoo's cheek. "Mmf, that is painfully correct," she turns her whole body so she could face Hyejoo and finally give her the kiss that she fought so badly for with Yerim. Chaewon plants her lips onto Hyejoo's incredibly softer ones, and loosely wraps her arms around the latter's neck. Hyejoo carefully pushes the blonde to the wall and lets one of her hands roam up Chaewon's back while the other rested on her girlfriend's waist.

 

"God, I love you so much Chae." 

 

Chaewon slips in her tongue to deepen the kiss as she was overwhelmed by the rush of adrenaline pulsing through her. When both girls remember that oxygen was necessary for breathing, they parted from each others's lips but maintained the short distance between them while trying to recover their breathing rate. 

 

"I love you too, Hyejoo," Chaewon caresses the dark-haired girl's fluffy cheeks, "My beautiful birthday girl."

 

"Can we spend our birthdays together again next year?"

 

Chaewon leans in to press her lips against Hyejoo's ones, but it was shorter this time.

 

"But of course that's a given, Hyejoo!"