Solar felt like she was on a stakeout like on one of those American ‘cop shows’ she sometimes enjoyed watching. She was sitting in a car, eating fast food and holding a pair of binoculars to spy on a couple.

Okay so, maybe more like a private detective?

Whatever the case, she felt cool.

“Unnie, I didn’t bring those binoculars so you could spy on them.” A husky voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Shh…!”

“They can’t hear us…” An amused but slightly exasperated Moonbyul chuckled as she plucked the binoculars out of a pouting Solar’s hands, “And give them some privacy!”

“But they're our kids and I’m anxious!”

Then Solar realised what she had implied and blushed as her infuriating bodyguard laughed harder.

It had been a few weeks since the fashion show and Hwasa had quickly become a regular in their lives as she openly ‘courted’ Wheein, sending the blushing girl daily romantic gifts and letters addressed to her “little kitten”. It was sent accurately to whatever filming or performance location they were due to be at and of course Byul denied all knowledge of how Hwasa could possibly know where they were. And it became a little joke amongst the entourage as they made bets about what, when and where these romantic gestures from Wheein’s secret admirer would turn up. Wheein had not revealed to them who they were from, and Solar and Byul also held their tongue, wishing to give them all the privacy they could when Hwasa was an international celebrity as a fashion model.

They really cared and were protective about the pair, both seeing them as younger siblings and somewhere along the way, the younger couple became affectionately known as “the kids” between them. 

And after just under 2 weeks of polite courtship, Hwasa asked Wheein out. 

They somehow managed to find an evening amongst their crazy schedules (although a squealing Solar had insisted that Wheein could take a day or half-day off whenever she needed to match Hwasa’s) and Hwasa had decided to invite Wheein to dinner at a small hut on a private beach. Moonbyul had immediately helped Hwasa with the venue; setting up the dining table outside next to a fire-pit, lighting said fire-pit, teaching Hwasa how to keep the flames going and how to put it out, calming the suddenly frantic model down, assisting with the cooking etc. She then had asked Solar for the evening off to be their chauffeur, bodyguard and personal security for the night - so that she could keep fans and paparazzi off of Hwasa and allow “the kids” to have a date in peace. Solar (who had been helping a panicking Wheein get ready; advising about clothing choice, helping with her makeup, calming the hyperventilating puppy, lending her her shoes etc.) had immediately offered to join her, also wanting to look out for “the kids”.

So, here they were. 

Sitting in Moonbyul’s car, eating fast food and looking out for any suspicious activity. 

Well, Solar was more interested in spying on their date.

“Hyejinie planned this so well with this starlit dinner by a fire on an empty beach… and those little gifts and letters were so cute and romantic!” She sighed wistfully as she focused her attention back on her fries.

“Well, when she sets her mind on someone…” Byul replied as she finished her last bite of burger and wiped her hands on a wet tissue.

“If she’s like this with their first date, I wonder what she’ll be like on Wheein’s birthday?”

Byul shrugged in response as she cleared up the rubbish from their meal and Solar was suddenly struck by curiosity. 

“Byul-ah… I never asked when your birthday is.”

“Oh.” Byul glanced up briefly from what she was doing, “December 22nd.”

“What?! That’s like 2 weeks away! Why didn’t you say something?” Solar’s eyes went wide as saucers and started smacking the bodyguard on her shoulder.

“Ow, ow! Why are you hitting me, unnie?”

“Because! Because… you didn’t tell me, Moon Fart!”

“You didn’t ask, Yeba!”

“Yah!”

“You started it!”

“Well, you… omo!” Solar paused in play-fighting with Byul to snatch up the binoculars again.

“What? Did the press turn up?” The bodyguard was on immediate high alert.

“They’re kissing !” Solar squealed happily as she confirmed this through the eyepiece lens.

Byul’s jaw dropped.

“Unnie! Give the kids some privacy!” She yelped as she tried to retrieve the binoculars, which only descended into one of their mini wrestling matches that was short-lived as they were both laughing too hard.

Once they had settled and the Byul had packed the binoculars away so that a pouting Solar wouldn’t be tempted to spy on the younger couple again. Instead the idol thought about how it was so close to Byul’s birthday and close to the holidays, and it occurred to her that she hadn’t even thought about possibly spending any time away from the ex-soldier.

And she wasn’t sure she liked the idea.

Their interactions, conversations and Byul’s stable and comforting presence itself had become so entrenched in her life, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be parted from it for a single day.

“Would you… Would you like to join me and Wheein this Christmas? We rent a lodge at this really nice winter resort every year and… and you could bring Hyejinie?” Solar asked hesitantly, playing with a napkin and rolling it in her fingers, “And you could come as a f-friend or as my bodyguard… I don’t mind, whichever…”

Byul looked a little surprised at the sudden invitation. “Th-That’s really nice of you to invite us but I… I don’t really want to be a bother…”

“Wheein would love it if you and Hyejin came! I-I would too…” The last part was mumbled slightly, along with, “U-Unless you had plans already…” as her confidence started to waver.

She was almost startled when a warm hand covered her fidgeting ones and stilled them. She then shyly looked up to see deep dark eyes looking earnestly into her own.

“I would love to come, as your bodyguard and as your friend.” Byul gave her a soft smile. “And I’ll check if Hyejin is free too but knowing her, she’ll clear her entire schedule for Wheein.”

Solar beamed.

“Okay! That sounds great! Wheein will be so excited!” She chirped, ignoring how her own heart was fluttering with excitement. “We booked it from the 20th to 30th this year because I have New Year performances to get back to. So we’ll celebrate your birthday as well as Christmas! Oh, and we have a strict policy of no Christmas presents so there’s no stress or unwanted gifts.”

“Sounds good. But I want you to extend that to no birthday presents.”

“What?” Solar immediately frowned, “Why?”

“Same reasons.”

“But it’s your birthday!”

“And I never really celebrated it… and especially not since-” Byul’s mouth suddenly snapped shut with a click of teeth.

“O-Okay, what about a cake? Can I please get you a cake at least?” Solar rambled on to help distract Byul. “You don’t like it if it’s too sweet right? So, a cream cake?” 

A gentle squeeze of her hand reassured her that Byul was okay but it suddenly made her realise that they were still holding hands and that she hadn’t even noticed.

Because it was too comfortable, too natural.

“A cream cake sounds nice.” Byul replied quietly. “But no presents and no surprises.”

“Deal.” A pause. “Maybe a few decorations?”

“Seriously?”

“Like a few balloons and stuff.”

“Nothing crazy?”

“Totally.”

“...” 

“...I’ll let you poke my cheeks.”

“Balloons sound lovely!” Byul replied, giggling as she poked the soft round cheeks of the older girl, who huffed and rolled her eyes but was also smiling.

They agreed to keep the invitation a secret from everyone else as this sort of celebrity gossip (about Solar and Hwasa being new friends or lovers) was bound to get leaked and would draw too much media attention and therefore Solar’s stalker group. Plus, they were worried that Eric might randomly raise hell about Moonbyul going with her, or worse, invite himself too. 

     Speaking of the stalker group, they had been active on social media as usual but there had only been a few vague threats delivered to the company since the stage attack, of which none of them could be carried through as Byul had increased her vigilance, Wheein avoided booking any outdoor events (but as it was winter there were not many to reject) or any Byul advised against and Solar willingly complied. This naturally meant that the stalker group were getting desperate and according to Seulgi, who had been doing an excellent job on keeping tabs on them, they were likely planning something drastic out of frustration.

The problem was, any social media posts were deliberately done from shared Wifi spots, Internet cafes or even public libraries so it was almost impossible to trace them and therefore impossible to reveal the identity of any of them. However, Byul and Seulgi had more luck through the poor mental health patient, who had been manipulated into the stage attack. There had been reports from the psychiatric hospital staff that one of the temp agency nurses, who had insisted on working closely with the aforementioned patient, suddenly quit on the day he escaped and had not