---

“SURPRISE!!!”

Everyone was around the table, throwing their hands up and smiling as Hyejoo and Jinsoul walked into the room.

Hyejoo, nodding at Jinsoul, took a few seconds to put Olivia between her legs before straightening her posture, gently smacking both cheeks, opening .

“Oh my goodness...  A surprise birthday party... for me?  How could I have known?”

“Jinsoul.”

The tall blonde could only shrug as Lip and Yerim gave her a staredown.  If she had to break a little secret in order for everyone to have a good time, so be it.

As Hyejoo approached the table to say hi, Jinsoul looked around.

They really pulled through.

The decorations were toned down a lot.  The (kind of scary) inflatable animals were taken down, there were fewer vines, and the place looked more like an office with a jungle themed birthday party rather than they just stepped into the depths of Costa Rica and there just happened to be a desk.

“GUYS LOOK.”  Jinsoul’s attention turned back to Hyejoo as the girl was super focused on the cake on the table.

Everyone chuckled as Hyejoo talked way louder than she usually would because of the headphones.

Jinsoul walked over to the table, once again carefully taking off the headphones and putting them on the excited girl’s shoulders.

“It’s a cake, Hyejoo, it’s not that deep-”

The blonde girl looked down at the cake she had brought, her eyes widening:

Yerim and Lip had cut off one of the legs of the wolf shaped cake.

“It’s Olivia.”  The birthday girl held up her stuffed animal as close as she could to the cake without getting it dirty.

“Wow, the cake.  You even cut the right leg.”

“We aren’t totally useless, Jinsoul.” Kim Lip winked at the older girl.

“Yeah, I think we did pretty well.” Yerim agreed, waving her hand over her, now washed, face.

“This is the best birthday party I’ve ever had.  This is the best birthday I’ve ever had. Thank you so much guys.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Hyejoo squeezed Olivia tight.

Hyejoo wasn’t one for sentimental speeches but everyone knew what she was getting at.

“Well, you’re the best niece I could ever have.”  Principal Lee got up from the table to give Hyejoo a big hug, which the girl smiled at.

“And you’re the best watermelon master I’ve ever met.” Yerim jokingly bowed to Hyejoo, making the younger girl chuckle.  She then gave Hyejoo a high five, petting Olivia on the head before sitting down.

“Hyejoo, it’s an honor to have you around.” Lip pat Hyejoo on the shoulder, smiling.

“Hyejoo, you may not know it, but you’re one of the greatest people I’ve ever met.  Don’t let anyone bring you down. If they do, just let one of us know and we’ll kick their-”

“EHEM Jinsoul, did you forget who I am?”  Principal Lee raised an eyebrow at the blonde, who currently had her fist in the air because of her passionate speech.

“Oh- what I meant to say was, we’ll always be here to support you, Hyejoo.  You deserve every friend in the world. I know how tough high school can be, so it’ll be rough.  But we all believe in you, okay?”

Jinsoul bent down to Hyejoo’s height, removing the sunglasses on the younger girl’s head before staring right at her, putting on the most reassuring smile.

Hyejoo nodded, making Jinsoul give her a soft head rub before puffing up her chest for an announcement.

“Okay guys!!  Hyejoo can you…”

Hyejoo smiled, putting on her headphones.  Jinsoul took a deep breath. Not being loud for so long can really do something to a person.

“IT’S CAKE TIME!!!!”

“Jinsoul, you’re gonna break Hyejoo’s headphones.”

“Do you want to bet your new bikini on it?”

“Ew guys.  Remember the kids.”

“Remember the school principal.”

“...”

“Who wants to slice up Olivia’s pastry friend?”

“You’re an idiot, Jung Jinsoul.”

While everyone cheered, laughing, cutting up the cake, and passing it around, Hyejoo smiled.  

She had the most beautiful silent movie going on before her: everyone who was important to her came together in this office to throw her a birthday party.  She’d never felt this loved since she was a toddler.

She held up Olivia, looking at the stuffed wolf’s bead eyes.

“Let’s never forget this moment, okay?”

She nodded the wolf’s head, chuckling.

Hyejoo blinked, squeezing her eyes tight so that she could remember the image of everything she loved for a very long time.

---

“Wow.” Haseul was panting from running so hard. “We made it.”

She touched her neck, making sure her buddy was still there.  The run was encountered by a harsh wind so the cautious girl just wanted to make sure there wasn’t any damage.

The two adventurers had gotten home just in time.  

Haseul checked her watch.  Yeojin was going to be home any minute now and all she had to do was help her shelled friend and give Yeojin the cookies-

“THE COOKIES!!!!”

The snail almost fell off from how much Haseul was freaking out.

“How could I have forgotten the only thing I went out to get?”

Haseul couldn’t believe it.  She left Yeojin’s gift at the cafe and-

The stressed girl smacked her head.

She forgot to pay for the cocoa too, nevermind the cookies that she left.

“Great, so I left the house to get Yeojin a gift only to come back with an injured snail and a felony on my hands.”

It was good that ViVi went to the same school as her.  She could just give the money to her during school. A totally not weird or awkward exchange… I think.

Haseul shook her head.  There were more important matters at hand than possibly getting arrested for a dine and dash.

The hectic girl ran to the bathroom to wet a paper towel then went into her room, sitting down at her desk.

She took the snail off her neck and onto the wet paper towel, observing it closely.

“Okay.  I’m no snail doctor so just bear with me alright?”

Haseul went through her desk drawer, taking out a plastic box and a bandaid.  She quickly put them back and shut the drawer, putting her head in her hands.

“Those chemicals couldn’t be good for you.  I need glass or something but mom would kill me if she found a snail in a drinking cup.”

The girl looked at her watch.

“Yeojin’s gonna hate me for life.  I promised her an awesome gift and I came home with nothing.”

Haseul felt like crying.  She cared so much about her little bean, but she knew that familial love wasn’t appreciated unless it was materialized.

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY GAVE ME FOR MY BIRTHDAY?!?”

Oh no.

Haseul could hear Yeojin coming through the front door, and she didn’t seem happy.  Who would after being at tutoring for basically the whole day?

The nervous girl turned around, biting her nails.

There was absolutely no way she could whip something up in the ten seconds it would take for Yeojin to come into their room.

“Might as well start making my apology.”

Haseul sighed looking at the snail.

“I’m sorry for letting you both down.”

“UNNIE!!!”

Haseul jumped as Yeojin busted into their room, chucking down her backpack.  

The older girl slowly turned to her cousin, her head hung low.

“Yeojin, I have to tell you something-”

“NOPE. ME FIRST!!”

The tiny girl stomped up to Haseul, smacking something down on the desk, making Haseul make a hand dome around the snail to prevent further damage.

“So I go to tutoring because mom forced me to and usually they give the birthday kids candy or cupcakes or something like that.  But since my ‘behavior’ was apparently ‘too destructive to be fueled with sugar’ they gave me this.”

Yeojin shoved over the object to Haseul.

It was a mason jar terrarium.

“CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!  A GLASS GARDEN THING?!? They said it would ‘help me concentrate’ and ‘become more peaceful with myself’ WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?  I AM TOTALLY AT PEACE WITH MYSELF!!”

The smaller girl huffed before plopping down on the bed.

After a couple seconds