---

“Hyejoo, you in there?”

Jinsoul knocked softly on the door to Hyejoo’s room.

The trio had been to Hyejoo’s house a number of times: it was right next to school so it didn’t take much effort to find it.  Principal Lee was always glad to have them over, anything for Hyejoo to interact more.

“Hyejoo?  It’s me, Jinsoul.”

Jinsoul knocked a few more times.  She could hear the shooting and stabbing noises of Hyejoo’s video games come to a halt as the she assumed the game was paused.

Soon enough, the door slowly open without a single creak, and Hyejoo popped her head out.  She had on an extra large black hoodie that could honestly be a dress it was so large.

Her hair was messy and she looked somewhat sleep deprived, probably from playing games all day.  As always Olivia, the three-legged stuffed wolf, was safe in Hyejoo’s arms. It even had a little party hat on.

“Hi Jinsoul.  What are you doing here?”

“Happy Birthday man.”  Jinsoul carefully patted Hyejoo on the head, making the younger girl smile.

Seeing Hyejoo smile was something that Jinsoul couldn’t help but gush at every time it happened.  It reminded her of ViVi, the way her eyes closed then curved and how her squishy cheeks slowly got pushed up by her tiny mouth.  It was a long and slow process, like it went at turtle speed, but Jinsoul felt like a proud mother whenever it happened.

“Thanks.”

“Can we talk for a second?”

Hyejoo thought deeply for a second before walking out of her room and closing the door.

“Yeah sure.”

Hyejoo led Jinsoul into the living room, both of them sitting down on the floor.

“Do you want something from a selection of food and beverages?” Hyejoo’s face twitched as her smile became less genuine, making Jinsoul’s heart sink.

What bull is Principal Lee teaching her?  Principal Lee had taken up the effort to teach Hyejoo some conversational skills and, though she had the best intentions, they always ended up making Hyejoo sound like an 80 year old british woman and Jinsoul couldn’t stand it.

“I’m good Hyejoo, thanks.”

“Okay.  I do have watermelon too though, if you want some.”  

Hyejoo’s face lit up.

“It’s not usually watermelon season, and I can’t visit my garden right now, so auntie got me a surprisingly ripe watermelon from the store.  It was nice and big and sweet. I got that and a game. You knocked on my door while I was beating the final boss. I’ve never beaten a whole game so fast so I was really excited.  This is a really amazing birthday. And then you came so now it’s a super amazing birthday.”

Jinsoul’s heart swelled whenever she saw Hyejoo talk.  She just talked so passionately about the things she cared about.  She wished that Lippie and Yerim could be there to see that Hyejoo just needed something simple to be happy but she knew those two were probably thinking up the equivalent of the MAMA awards without her keeping them grounded in a surprising turn of events.

“I’m glad you’re having a good birthday Hyejoo.” Jinsoul’s phone buzzed before she could get to what she was trying to say.

paple people eater:  hey jinsoul where are you

Kiss Lip:  we decided on a surprise party

paple people eater:  it’s gonna be jungle themed

Kiss Lip:  we need you to get streamers

paple people eater:  and the wolf cake i ordered

Kiss Lip:  and the leopard print bikini I bought ;)

paple people eater:  ew unnie there are kids in this chat

(paple people eater has been removed from the chat)

Kiss Lip: not anymore there aren’t

Jinsoul rolled her eyes, silencing her phone, though she kept a mental note to ask which store Lippie needed the bikini from.  

Back on topic, Jinsoul knew they were gonna pull something way wilder than what they needed to.

Usually Jinsoul would be the one to love a good surprise party, but she didn’t wanna risk something bad happening to Hyejoo, so she decided to be her own worst nightmare.

A snitch.

---

Geez it’s cold out.

Haseul loved her poncho, but maybe another layer and possibly a hat would’ve been a good addition to her ensemble.

The calm girl strolled along the streets, thinking about what to get her tinier half.

“This would’ve been easier with a consultant.” Haseul huffed.

Haseul knew Yeojin inside out, how could she not they’re basically joined at the hip.  She just wished that the smaller girl had a larger social circle than just her family.

Both Haseul nor Yeojin minded hanging out all the time, but even though they were the Welcoming Committee, they didn’t really have other friends other than themselves.

Everyone knew Haseul for her kindness and overall friendliness, so it wasn’t like she couldn’t have friends, but the older girl dedicated all of her time to Yeojin.

Being the youngest by a lot at school is hard, and Haseul couldn’t stand the thought of her second cousin being alone because kids wouldn’t talk to her.  So she never even let that be an option and stayed with Yeojin as much as she could.

She knew the little bean found it annoying most of the time, but Haseul wasn’t going to take any chances.

The down side to her motherly nature was that she couldn’t call anyone up to help her get a gift for Yeojin.

Or maybe there was…

Haseul took out her phone, pressing on a contact that could maybe help her out, though it’d be a longshot.

After a couple rings, a voice came up on the other line:

“HASEUL UNNIE IS THAT YOU? WHAT IS MY SAVIOR DOING CALLING ME?”

Haseul laughed, her phone still on her ear despite the noise.  She turned the volume down beforehand since she knew what was going to happen.

“Hi Jiwoo.”  Haseul paused before looking at the time, then decided to take a guess.

“Hi Sooyoung.”

“WAH SOO