Cheondoong shut the door to his car and started walking into the large party store. When he entered, all he saw were party decorations from wall to wall. Balloons, confetti, party hats, anything party related you could think of was there. It was to the point where it was nearly overwhelming.  Should he get this or that? And if he picked this, then what color should he get it in? That’s basically what Cheondoong thought to himself as he perused the aisles.

His ringtone went off and brought his attention away from the royal blue colored party hat he was just about to pick up. Tugging his phone out of his pocket, he placed the receiver to his ear.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hello, Cheondoong. It’s me.” Seungho’s voice answered.

“Oh, hey. What’s up?” Cheondoong replied. He placed the phone between his ear and shoulder as he picked up a Pikachu piñata. A tiny chuckle escaped him as he threw it into the cart he had been dragging behind him. I know Joon is the one who’s crazy about Pokémon, but this will still be amusing for Mir.

“You’re getting everything ready for the party, right? It’s going to be by the Han River, right?” Seungho asked.

“Yeah. Don’t worry. I can take care of everything. How’s school going though? I wish I could have gone today but this is pretty important too,” Cheondoong said, chuckling a little.

“It’s alright. We miss seeing you’re pretty idol face during lunch,” Seungho teased. Cheondoong laughed as he threw a few packages of streamers into the cart.

“Well, you’ll get to see me today. Besides, don’t you watch TV? If you miss my face just watch TV,” Cheondoong retorted.  He heard Seungho laugh quietly on the other line.

“Alright, I gotta get to class now. See you later,” Seungho said. He hung up and Cheondoong put his phone back into his pocket. As he continued on his mission to gather party supplies, Cheondoong couldn’t help but feel nervous to see Joon. What would Joon do or say? Would he disapprove of Cheondoong’s feelings? After all, Minah was like a sister to Joon.

Dwelling on the fact seemed too overwhelming so Cheondoong let it go and focused on the task at hand. He grabbed a package of plates, napkins, and plastic cups and threw them into the cart. Next, he found a variety of balloons to choose from. Picking out a select few that merely had the words “Happy Birthday” on them along with little decorations he headed over to the registers with his cartful of stuff.

When the cashier looked up and recognized him, he gasped. “Holy crap! You’re Park Cheondoong! The idol!” he exclaimed. Cheondoong gave him a small smile and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s me,” he said. The cashier who was clearly Cheondoong’s fan boy seemed flustered for a moment and dropped one of the rolls of streamers.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” he stammered and bent down to pick it up. Before he could, Cheondoong had already grabbed it and placed it back on the counter. The cashier gazed up and blinked.

“It’s fine,” Cheondoong replied. It wasn’t often that Cheondoong would encounter a fan boy and when he did, he was grateful. He hoped that his music could make people of all ages and genders happy.

“T-thank you,” the guy stuttered. Cheondoong smiled warmly and patted the guy’s shoulder.

“Don’t be so nervous. I’m a person just like you,” he said. With those words said, the cashier seemed to calm down a little and managed to scan all the items. Cheondoong paid for them and after giving the fan boy an autograph, he left the party store.

“Now all I have to do is get the food and set up,” Cheondoong said to himself. Throwing the bags into the trunk of his car, he shut it and got into the driver’s seat. Then, he went off to finish preparing for Mir’s birthday party.

---

The birthday boy himself, however, was completely oblivious to the preparations. The only thing he could think about was how his chance to tell the girl he loved that he loved her slipped away. He was too distracted to even pay attention during his classes.

Mir stood up and moved towards the door after class was over, trudging along like a zombie. Even though it was time for lunch, he had no appetite. Not even the fact that it was his birthday could cheer him up.

He had been fine earlier that week but once March 10 rolled around, he was practically hit in the face with reality.

This could have been the most special day of my life but I let the chance slip away.

Enwrapped in his thoughts, Mir didn’t notice the tall, lanky boy right in front of him. He crashed into him and they both tumbled to the ground, Mir’s body crushing the boy’s.

“Ow, !” Mir shouted. He groaned and picked himself up, getting to his feet. Noticing the boy on the ground he reached out, grabbed the boy’s shirt, and yanked him up. “Sorry about that.”

Mir was about to walk away when he got a better look at the boy. His eyes grew slightly wider. “Oh, aren’t you Do Jaesun? You’re Minah’s friend, right?” he asked. A look of recognition flashed across Jaesun’s gray eyes when he saw Mir. Slowly, he nodded.

“Uh, well. It was nice seeing you,” Mir said. He quickly walked away, wanting to leave the awkward atmosphere that had surrounded the two of them. Mir shook his head and lightly slapped his cheeks as he walked.

Am I just imagining things or did that kid seem kinda angry with me?

Mir thought back to the neutral look in Jaesun’s eyes and shook his head once more. “No, why would that kid be angry at me?” Mir questioned as if someone would answer him. Of course, no one did. “If anything, I should be angry at that kid for taking Minah away from me today.”

Sighing heavily, Mir headed towards the oak tree where his friends would be waiting for him. And when he got there, he had at least expected Joon to say something to him. He had only told Seungho, Joon, and Cheondoong when his birthday was. Minah was still oblivious to the fact that it was Mir’s birthday.

Contrary to his expectations, Joon stayed put on the bench when Mir arrived. In fact, both Joon and Seungho seemed somber that day. They greeted him half-heartedly, as if they didn’t care for the fact that he was there. It didn’t particularly bother Mir but he still felt a little hurt at the way they acted.

“Hey, Mir. What took you so long to get here?” Minah asked. She was sitting beside Seungho on one of the benches with her lunch in her lap. “Did you happen to see Jaesun-ssi on the way here?”

“Yeah, I ran into him,” Mir grinned, hiding his true feelings inside. Minah gave him an exasperated look and chuckled.

“You don’t mean that literally, do you?” she said. Mir shrugged and winked at her, glad that Minah was acting normal that day.

“What’s up with Doom and Gloom?” Mir said, gesturing towards Joon and Seungho. Minah frowned slightly and shrugged.

“I don’t know they were like this when they got here.” She warily glanced at Joon who sighed and looked at the ground. What she didn’t know was that Joon was struggling against the urge to burst out and tell Mir about his surprise birthday party. He was using all of his restraint to stop himself from doing so.

So, lunch that day was bleak and dreary. Jaesun had showed up a few moments after Mir but that didn’t constitute any extra conversation. He was merely there to please Minah. For the most part, nobody spoke as they ate. It was certainly disappointing for Mir. What a wonderful birthday, right? But, there must be ups and downs in life and Mir would find out soon enough that his birthday would not go by uneventfully.

---

Minah opened the door to her apartment and looked around for her dad. “Dad? Are you home?” she called out. When she got no response, she knew he had gone to work. Turning around, she smiled at Jaesun.

“My dad is at work right now so I guess you can’t meet him today. Anyways, come inside,” she said, ushering her psychology partner into the apartment. Jaesun took timid steps and didn’t dare to look around. Minah’s expression softened as she shut the door behind him. “Don’t be so nervous. You can look around the place.”

Still, Jaesun avoided looking at anything and kept his eyes on the floor. Minah bit back the urge to sigh in disappointment. She went over to the couch and placed her bag on the coffee table.

“You can put your stuff here. Do you want anything to eat or drink?” she asked. Jaesun shook his head and stood rooted to his spot next to the couch. “Sit down, I’ll get my laptop so we can do research.”

Jaesun finally listened to her and cautiously took a seat on the couch. When Minah left to go into her room, he let his eyes wander around the room. Carefully, he took in every little detail in hopes of getting to know Minah better. Hearing her footsteps approaching, Jaesun immediately shifted his gaze back down to the floor.

Right when Minah placed the laptop on the table, her cell phone rang.

“Sorry, I just need to answer this real quick,” she said before taking her phone out of her bag and going into the kitchen. “Hello?” she answered.

“Minah, where are you?” Joon’s voice shouted frantically.

“Joon? What do you mean? I’m at home,” she replied.

“Why aren’t you here?” Joon shouted again.

“Yah, Joon. Stop yelling. I’ll talk to her,” Minah heard Seungho growl on the other line. She assumed that he had taken the phone from Joon. “Hey Minah. It’s me.”

“What was Joon talking about before?” she instantly asked.

“He wanted to know why you aren’t at Mir’s birthday party. Cheondoong set up everything this morning,” Seungho said. Minah’s eyes widened and she nearly dropped the phone.

“What? What do you mean ‘Mir’s birthday party’? It’s his birthday today?” she exclaimed, her voice rising in volume.

“You mean no one told you?” Seungho responded.

“No! No one told me!” Minah practically shrieked into her phone. By now, she was furious. How could her friends not tell her about a surprise party for Mir? How come Mir didn’t tell her it was his birthday? If she had known, she wouldn’t have invited Jaesun over to work on their project.

“Okay, calm down. You might have time to get here before Yongguk hyung brings Mir over. Meet us at the Han River before 7:10, alright?” Seungho said. Minah took a deep breath and responded with a small ‘yes’.

Hanging up, she headed out of the kitchen and into the living room. An apologetic smile came on her face.

“I’m really sorry Jaesun-ssi but can we work on this project tomorrow? Something important came up and I have to leave,” Minah said. Jaesun gazed up at her, staring into her eyes. She found herself frozen by his intense gaze, almost mesmerized. When he blinked, her trance was broken. Without saying a word, Jaesun gathered his belongings and headed towards the door.

Minah grabbed her bag and quickly followed him. “I’m so sorry Jaesun-ssi,” she apologized once more. Jaesun turned towards her and stared at her again. Suddenly, he reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Minah’s eyes grew wide and she unconsciously held her breath.

“It’s okay,” Jaesun whispered. Again, the mask muffled his voice. With that said, Jaesun left. Minah was momentarily shocked but shook herself out of the trance. Locking the door, Minah began to run.

Minah ran until she reached the nearest bus stop. Luckily, the bus was just arriving and she boarded it. The ride to the Han River was only twenty minutes but it was already 6:55. She could only hope that she would make it before Mir did.

The bus came to a stop and Minah rushed out. She pulled out her phone and was about to call Seungho when she saw a couple balloons attached to a tree. She sprinted over there as quickly as she could and found that the party had already started.

Mir was sitting at the picnic table, a wide grin on his face. Yongguk, Jongup, Joon, Seungho, and Cheondoong were sitting around him. They all had plates in front of them with a variety of foods. The cake was still untouched however and a pile of presents remained unwrapped.

Minah’s eyes narrowed at Mir who was now laughing at something Joon said. She stormed over to him and stood beside him with her arms cross. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Then, Minah smacked Mir on the shoulder as hard as she could.

“Ow! What the ?” Mir yelled in pain as he gripped his shoulder. The others were stunned and gaped at the scene before them.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday today, you idiot!” Minah shouted at him. She started hitting him over and over, calling him an idiot at the same time.

“Ow, ow, stop!” Mir pleaded, trying to defend himself with his arms. Seungho quickly went over and stopped Minah. She glared icily at Mir but ceased her violent actions. “I’m the ing birthday boy so why are you beating on me?”

Mir looked up at Minah who now had a sincere, apologetic look on her face. Seungho let her go and she instantly threw her arms around Mir. His eyes widened and a tiny gasped escaped his lips.

“Yah, how could you not tell me it was your birthday today? Is that why you invited me to go out to town last week? For your birthday?” she whispered. Mir’s arms encircled her and he slowly nodded.

“Then why didn’t you just say so? I would have cancelled my plans with Jaesun-ssi then,” she said. Minah pulled out of the hug, much to Mir’s chagrin, and smiled softly at him. “I mean, you are one of my closest friends after all.”

“I’m sorry,” Mir said quietly. Minah leaned down and hugged him again.

“Happy birthday,” she whispered in his ear. Then, she pulled away and looked at the others.

“Anyways, let’s start the party again,” Minah said. Joon stood up and whooped happily. The once-tense atmosphere loosened up again and everyone was talking normally. Joon seemed particularly happy with Cheondoong’s choice of a Pikachu piñata. It was hung up on a nearby tree, filled with candy and ready to be broken. They would get to that later in the night though.

And for Mir, it was a night he would never forget. He had been so surprised and overwhelmed with joy when Yongguk brought him there. To find his friends had secretly prepared a birthday party for him made him smile endlessly.

Now, he couldn’t get the feeling of Minah in his arms out of his body. The sound of her voice when she whispered happy birthday into his ear echoed in his mind. And most of all, he couldn’t get Minah out of his heart.