Seungyeon just stared. Disbelief ran over her. A bittersweet moment she must say. After hearing Onew's scream from afar, she couldn't help but smile.

"Yah! Why did you lie to me?", Onew couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Because I don't want to bother you, bother anyone", she was wiping her tears from earlier. This was not the birthday she anticipated.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know", he tried to make the situation better but it's too late to change anything now.

"No, it's my fault", she turned her back on him.

Onew slowly sat beside her, doing anything that could make this turn around. He grabbed her shoulder and leaned her towards him. "Happy Birthday", he whispered. "You know, it's not too late to celebrate", he continued.

"Hm?"

"Where do you want to go?", he asked like he was talking to a nine year old.

"I want to go to Han River", what an odd choice he thought.

Onew led her to her destination.

"Can you feel it?", she said after keeping her silence for 10 minutes after they arrived.

"The what?", he had no idea what she was talking about and where all this was going.

"Harmony and serenity." She didn't say anything else.

"I don't understand........." Onew trailed off.

Seungyeon kept still for another five minutes. Onew stood behind her, quitely observing her small movements. This is the first time he had seen her this way. Considering her current situation her actions are very reasonable, but it bugs him not seeing her bright smiles.

"Let's play", she finally ended her silence.

He was taken aback with her sudden change of mood. "Is she gonna be alright?", he thought.

"You know what....how about I cook something really good for you?", aside from her passion for music, cooking has become one of her hobbies especially when she had to live by herself while studying in the US.

"It's your birthday..shouldn't it be the other way around?", innocent Onew clueless.

"Yeah, but having my best friend eat my food would be a great present", she gave him one of her puppy-dog-eyes. Works all the time.

It's her birthday. There is no way he can refuse her offer. And besides, he loves food. "I want chicken", he shamelessly requested.

"Of course you do. All you eat is chicken. You probably like chicken more than you like me", she joked.

"You are wrong", he murmured. Other than that he didn't respond.
____________________________________________________________
They arrived at Seungyeon's place. Surprised to see that the house was empty, Seungyeon checked her phone to see if her parents left a message for her. They did.

~Seungyeon-ah. Your dad received a phone call from your Uncle and Auntie, they have an urgent business trip so they requested us to look after your cousins while they're gone. We'll drive up there to pick them up. Be back by lunch tomorrow.
Food is in the fridge and take care. Happy Birthday.~

"Great", she sarcastically said to herself.

"Is there something wrong?", Onew concerned. He doesn't exactly want his friend to be alone on the night of her birthday.

"No. Everything is okay", everything is okay except her.Sad that she was going to be alone. Again. She expected that maybe this year her birthday would be different. More special, especially now that this will be her first birthday after leaving Korea to study abroad. Onew saw right through her. A sad and disappointed Seungyeon, a view he doesn't want to witness again.

"So, what are you serving me today birthday girl?", Onew said in a cheer tone.

"Something with chicken"..Onew brightened up with the thought of eating chicken prepared by Seungyeon. "This must be my lucky day".

___________________________________________________________

Seungyeon decided to prepare baked chicken. She marinated it using her mom's homemade sauces combined together, covered it in foil and set the oven in 400 degrees fahrenheit. While waiting for the chicken to be ready, they both decided to kill some time by watching a horror movie. They were really into the movie and have completely neglected the burning chicken in the oven. Onew smelled something unpleasant. Seungyeon immediately jumped off the couch and took the chicken from the oven. Pitch black, it didn't look appetizing even for the chicken maniac Onew.

"Let's order some Pizza?" he suggested as he bursted into laughter.

"Yah! Are you making fun of me? I can really cook. It wasn't my fault! Blame the movie", she defended herself.

He continued laughing, he dialed the number and ordered a large garlic chicken pizza. "I need chicken in my system".

"How long will it take until the pizza gets here?", feeling a little impatient she asked Onew.

"20-30 minutes", he responded.

Having no control over the arrival of the pizza, they sat on the couch back against each other staring in the air. They started singing the same song.

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