A/N: It is so good to be back you all have NOOOO idea! I was stuck in the heat without internet, kpop, jpop, and cpop for A WEEK AND A HALF! I wanted to cry SOO bad! T.T The first thing I did was dive at my computer to write and catch up on the dramas I missed! I am loving Miss Panda and Hedgehog right now! The young president, damn he is FIINEE! And when he saw Donghae and the Pan Da Young I felt so bad for him! I'm like, baby don't cry!! (LOLZ EXO moment!) Did anyone see the footage of PSY at the Dodgers game? That made me smile manically like: YES KPOP IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD! We need to create a flash mob with that dance!!!! Ahem, now that my rant is over, I proudly present, chapter 14:

                   Your Pov

                It was killing me. I had no idea what to get Donghae! I didn’t want to get him anything that he would hate, or never use. That was hard because not only did I not know what he needed, I didn’t know what he wanted. And I couldn’t straight out ask Donghae or pretend to play “Twenty Questions” with him……that would be too obvious.

                “Well, what do you know he likes?” Ryeowook and I were walking in the hallways after school. He was patiently listening to me complain, and offered some advice which wasn’t helping.

                “He likes to dance, his favorite color is blue, and he prefers Japanese cuisine over everything else. His favorite movie genre is slapstick comedy, he likes to play soccer when he can, if he could eat one dessert forever it would be-”

                “Whoa, I think that’s enough information,” Ryeowook interrupted me, “So base your gifts off of that.”

                “But it’s not that simple!! He says he likes soccer, but does he like it that much? I’m not going to buy an expensive ball if he only likes soccer as a hobby? And when there comes to eating out at a restaurant, would he be ok if I paid a dinner for him?”

                “Whatever you do,” Ryeowook soothed me, “I bet he’ll love it regardless because you put so much thought into it.”

                Ryeowook’s eyes were wandering when he spotted someone specific. He pointed and told me:

                “Hey, look! There’s Eunhyuk! Why don’t you go ask him? He’s Donghae’s best friend, right?”

                “Yeah, you’re right! Thanks Wookie!” I ran off in the direction of the blonde. I tapped him suddenly on the shoulder, and Eunhyuk flew 10 feet in the air. When he saw it was me, he laughed nervously.

                “Thanks for scaring me!” Eunhyuk patted his heart.

                “No problem.”

                “What’s up?”

                “I need a favor from you,” I whispered.

                “What kind of favor?” Eunhyuk wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

                “Not that!” I rolled my eyes, “Donghae’s birthday is coming up in 4 days, and I don’t know what to get him! If you could help me pick one out, it would make me feel so much better!” I pleaded excessively.

                “Mhmm, sure. I’ll help. I need to get him something too,” Eunhyuk nodded after a couple moments of contemplation.

                “Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver! When should we meet?”

                “Let’s do it on Thursday, sound cool?”

                “Yep, Thursday it is!” I smiled. My plan to get Donghae the best present ever was finally in action. A hand I knew all too well swiftly grabbed at my waist, making me squeak at the wild motion. Donghae had made one of his sneak attacks again, which he was so good at.

                “Hey,” I greeted and patted Donghae’s arm. Eunhyuk, despite being the third wheel in some sense, didn’t act if he minded how intimate Donghae and I were in front of him.

                “Hi,” Donghae responded quietly. Just by looking at his face, I knew he had a problem.

                “You ok?”

                “Yeah, yeah,” Donghae clearly wasn’t, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

                “Can’t I worry about my namja chingu?” I pretended to pass my inquiry off as a casual comment. I pecked him on the cheek, and he smiled lightly.

                “What was that for?” Donghae’s mood brightened, and so did mine.

                “Are you now so curious that I just want to kiss you? Maybe I shouldn’t anymore!” I acted as if I was annoyed and stormed off through the hallway.

                “No! Jagiya!!!” Donghae knew I was joking around and ran for me with open arms. Unfortunately, I ran into a solid wall of tall guys, which blocked me from further escaping. Donghae used that to gain the space between us and pounce.

                “Gotcha!” He growled with tight arms around me.

                “Omo! Don’t eat me!”

                “I  bet you taste good. Nom nom nom,” Donghae made snarling sounds like he was savagely eating at my neck. He began to teeth with his lips covering his fangs, and I giggled at the tickling sensation.

                “I fed you alreadly! Back off! No more humans!” Han Geng, who was passing by, yanked Donghae back by the back of his jacket collar. Heechul was with him, who was busy staring at his self through a compact mirror.

                “But this one tastes extra good!” Donghae made another slash with his arms towards me, but Han Geng kept his hold on Donghae.

                “Let’s go Beast,” Heechul joined in. He slipped his mirror into his bag and clapped his hands as if it were a signal for us to follow him. He was treating us like slaves…..

                “So, did you figure out what you’re going to get me yet?”

                “Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you,” I told Donghae as we descended the stairs.

                “What if you have an accidental slip of the tongue…?”

                “There won’t be,” I chuckled, “Your birthday’s in four days, I can make it till then.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I glided through the glass doors, as quiet as death. Even though I was sure no one was following me, there was still a feeling of paranoia that lurked in the back of my mind. No one, besides the person I was meeting on this rendezous, could know what I was doing. Not even my closest friends were allowed a hint.

Just like the man said, he was waiting for me in front of the large fountain. He was leaning on the concrete rim with the expression of complete ease. It made me feel that I was the only one nervous about the situation! I approached the blonde figure and called out his name.

“Hey Ae-Young," Eunhyuk greeted with a small wave, "you ready?"

"Um...yeah," I shifted on the spot unsurely. Eunhyuk spotted my discomfort.

"Relax!" He advised, "It's not like we're doing anything wrong. What did you tell  Donghae?"

I told him I was meeting up with a girlfriend." My mind flashed back to the action I did not long ago. Donghae wanted to go out to the park today because the weather was so nice. I almost agreed, but remembered my previous engagement. It was hard for me to turn him down, but his birthday present was on the line. I also wanted the whole process to be a secret so the surprise would be even better, so I lied to Donghae as well.

"You actually have friends....that are girls?!" Eunhyuk feigned shock.

"Yah! How is that so weird?! And.......no, I don't."

”You're like a female Hugh Heffner! You're constantly surrounded by gorgeous boys!" Eunhyuk flipped his hair while winking and giving me a greasy grin.

"I guess I'm lucky then!" I rolled my eyes, "Keep it up and I might contemplate creating a magazine full of scandalous photos of all of you!!"

"Omo! Such a ert! What has Donghae fallen for!" Eunhyuk gasped and covered his body with his arms whist turning away from me.

"Knock it off with the joking! We're burning daylight here!" I snapped my fingers for him to start moving.

"Ok, let the search, begin!" Eunhyuk rose from the fountain and we set off in the direction of the east wing of the mall. Like I had originally thought, this was going to be much more difficult than it needed to be.

In all seriousness, Eunhyuk and I spent four hours at the mall. We didn't find anything down the East wing because it was full of house ware, furniture stores, and lingerie shops. Eunhyuk further revealed his erted side by suggesting that I buy a y teddy to wear for Hae's birthday. I clonked him on the head for that. He muttered something along the lines of: 'It's not like he wouldn't appreciate the thought.'

The West wing was promising, but I didn't buy a thing. There was a hat that I was going to buy for Hae, but Eunhyuk stopped me at the last second. I was confused to why he threw the hat back and dragged me out of the store, but then he told me something I couldn't believe. The cashier was just looking at me, he wasn't "undressing me with his eyes", as Eunhyuk so eloquently put it. In another store down the same hall there was a hopeful shirt. When I stumbled upon it, I could immediately see Hae in it. The way the plaid, sapphire button up was fitting on his shoulders in my imaginary brain theater made me excited. I had found the birthday gift.....but then I realized the store was out of stock of that particular shirt in his size.

We tried the South wing, despite the fact that we knew there wouldn't be much. And just as we thought, there were only cafes and book stores to choose from. Well, there was also a baby store, but that was a place I would never revisit. The sight of Eunhyuk playing too enthusiastically with a wack-a-mole toy was disturbing. Since we were tired of walking for so long, and not to mention hungry, we headed to a bubble tea stand in the North wing to sit and replenish the lost nutrients and energy from walking all day.

As Eunhyuk and I reclined back in two chairs, I came to a revelation. Eunhyuk stared at my flailing form as I stupidly tried to speak when I had bubble tea in my mouth.

"Swallow first," It was if Eunhyuk was speaking to a child.

"I just realized that we all drink too much bubble tea!"

"Do we?" Eunhyuk examined his cup.

"Yeah! I wonder if they have these places in the states?" I pondered.

"They must! Bubble tea is too delicious not to spread to other continents." Eunhyuk slurped down his last drop of bubble tea. He shook his empty cup in disappointment. With a quick glance, he noticed I had yet to drink half of mine. With reflexes faster than a ninja's he grabbed my bubble tea and was hastily chugging it.

"Hey! That's mine!" I yelled and beat him, trying to make him give it back. Eunhyuk held me back easily, and continued to drink until there was half an inch left on the bottom of the cup with the tapioka. He released the thick straw from his mouth and handed it back to me with a cheeful, "Here you go!"              My jaw just dropped, "You're so selfish! You owe me another bubble tea!!" I pointed at him with fire in my eyes. I was going to finish what was left, but I set it down at the corner of the table farthest from us.

"Why did you do that?" Eunhyuk chuckled amusedly. 

"Your germs are all over it! I'm not going to drink it and risk the chance of getting mono!"

"But you would do it if it was Donghae. Should I tell him we shared an indirect kiss?" Eunhyuk teasingly put two fingers to his mouth and kissed the tips. He tried to place them on my lips, but I smacked his hand back with a laugh.

"You better not tell him about it or we're both dead!"

Donghae's Pov

I was still suspicious to why Ae-Young turned me down. Her excuse was reliable enough, but the way she spoke indicated she was leaving critical details out. It was like she was purposely hiding something from me.

I didn't stress over it too much, and called up Eunhyuk to see if he could hang out. But he didn't pick up his phone even though I called and texted him for hours. My efforts deemed successful so I gave up and practiced the dance for the competition around Christmas. I did as much as I could by myself, but it wasn't a lot because most of the dance was revolved around moves and stunts that needed two people. I was frustrated and alone, so I decided the best decision was to go out. With my cell phone and bag in tow, I set off for the mall.

 Because of my bad mood, I wasn't up for actually shopping. So in cases like this, I people watch most of the time. I strolled at a snail’s pace off to the side so I would not be in the way. Unfortunately, one person continued to plague my thoughts.

For some reason, all of the girls reminded me of Ae-Young. And it wasn't because they resembled her at all, but there were subtle characteristics and actions that would bring me back to her. For example, a flick of long, raven hair made me remember how she would flip hers out of her face, inviting my hand to carress and touch. A laugh with a head thrown back made me think of hers. The way the skin around her doe-like eyes crinkled, and how it exposed her milky neck with that beauty mark which just begged me to kiss. It was hopeless, even though we've been dating for a while, I still thought about her whenever my brain had time.

The sight of a bubble tea sign hanging from the wall had me smiling. Ae-Young and Eunhyuk both loved bubble tea. If I knew where they were, I would have gotten some for them. But who says I have to deny myself the same? As I headed for the bubble tea stand, I heard two familiar voices as I got closer. It was....Eunhyuk and Ae-Young?! I hid behind the conveniently placed plant and spied on them. Ae-Young told me she was meeting up with a girlfriend......why was she with Eunhyuk? It was a seemingly harmless conversation, until Eunhyuk stole Ae-Young's bubble tea. The way they interacted was so playful and couple like. Were they here for deeper reasons? Or was this just a coincidental meeting? The playful indirect kiss Eunhyuk was trying to place on Ae-Young had me angry, and I was about to reveal myself when I heard:

"You better not tell him about it, or we're both dead!"

That one line came from my girlfriend, who I thought was faithful. When I had overheard them the other day in the hallway, I forgot about what they said when I had saw Ae-Young's face. The way she looked at me had me believing I was still hers. Well, I guess I was just a head over heels sap that fell heavily over tricks. With regret, disappointment, anger, and betrayal swirling in my gut in a heavy tornado, I ran out the mall with tears in my eyes. My first girlfirend, who I had shared my first kiss with, had cheated on me. And I was still irrevocably in love with her.

Your Pov

Even with Eunhyuk's help I was unable to find Donghae a birthday gift. So we left the mall and parted our separate ways. Eunhyuk promised to call me if he thought of anything, but I doubted him because of the two day deadline.

It wouldn't be an understatement to say I was panicking. What in the world was I going to get Hae?! At this point, I was beginning to consider Eunhyuk's joke from earlier. Maybe wearing lingerie with a bow around my neck wasn't such a bad idea.... Oh dear god if I imagined Kangin's face at the sight of a Victoria Secret bag. That would be hysterical!

I still felt a sense of guilt from earlier today, so I decided to text Donghae to check in on him. It didn't bother me that I hadn't recieved a response back after an hour. He probably was busy with something else. But after almost 2 hours, I resent my message. When I didn't get a reply then, I tried calling him. He did not pick up.

Was Donghae ok? Its one thing not to pick up after two hours, but four was ridiculous! I've literally holed myself up in my room, doing my homework and calling or texting Donghae during certain time intervals. Not even one of his brothers picked up his phone. I was getting tired of constantly going to his voice mail, so I quit trying to reach him. Whatever. There was still tomorrow...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As I arrived in the classroom the next day, Donghae was not there. I just took my seat and waited. He's going to have to see me sooner or later. We sit next to each other after all.

It was boring and lonely without Hae. Because of the social pyramid of this school, I wasn't chummy with the kids in my class. According to the list, I was classified as a floater.

In some definition, a floater meant someone who traveled from group to group without planting one's self to give off a certain image. I conversed with the drama enthusiasts (Ryeowook and Kibum), the jocks (Kangin, Siwon, and Han Geng), the dancers (Eunhyuk, Hae, and Shindong), male social butterflys (Heechul, Sungmin, Zhou Mi, and Leeteuk), and I seldom chatted with the musicians (Henry) and lone turtle freak (Yesung). To be honest, I had yet to find myself a place where I stood out or belonged. Anyone who knew me defined me as the friend of *insert male name(s).*

And to add to my poor little sob story, the rest of the students filtered into groups I generally kept my distance from. In here we had the female social butterflies (mostly the es), male nerds, quiet kids, and male burnouts that mostly read magazines and manhwa behind their books.

I was too busy day dreaming that the bell, signaling the start of homeroom went off. Everyone slunk back to their seats and now I became suspicious. Where was Donghae?

To answer my internal inquiry, the door opened just as the bell was dying out. Donghae had barely made the bell before becoming tardy. His face was an emotionless mask, and traveled silently and quickly to his desk before the teacher could reprimand him.

He didn't even spare me a glance. Now I knew there was something up. But what?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey!" I grabbed hold of Donghae's sleeve as he began to ascend from his chair. No way was he going to run off without explaining first!

It's been a full half of the day and he still hasn't talked to me or looked at me! With this going on, I'm beginning to get the sense that he's purposefully ignoring me. Finally, Donghae faced me straight on. Even though he did, he still had an expression of: 'Well, what is it?'

"I tried calling you yesterday, but you didn't pick up. Were you busy...?"

"Um, yeah. I was. My phone was also turned off," Donghae cooly replied.

"Ah, ok," My brow furrowed. There were alarms going off in the back of my head. Donghae wasn't alright, but I let it go. When he was ready to talk, he would.

“Are you going to be there for lunch?"

“No," Donghae shook his head, "I have to go visit a sunbae about math."

"Oh...Well, see you," I awkwardly finished and let go of him. He was out the door when I was still in my seat.

That was a reasonable excuse.....right? Hae wouldn't be doing anything secretive, would he? If so, it still doesn't explain his 360 flip in attitude. Was it something I said or did? Was he upset that I rejected his offer to go out yesterday? No, that's too petty of a reason. Whatever the true one is, it's definitely bigger than a single date.

"Ae-Young!" I heard Henry call from outside my classroom. He was waiting for me at the door frame. He saw me look his way and he smiled and waved. A light and lifting feeling entered my stomach. Even though Donghae was in a bad mood, it didn't mean that my life was over. My friends were here, so I had them to talk to.

"Hi!" I grabbed my stuff and headed his way.

"Ready for lunch?" He asked.

"Guess so," I shrugged

"You know, you've looked pale since this morning." Henry pointed out

"Have I?" I patted my cheeks self-conciously. I didn't get much sleep last night. That must be why, "How did you know?"

"I love you, that's how." Henry my hair with his right hand.

"Henry," I warned. My throat was caught uncomfortably. Why did he constantly have to spring those three words on me? It made me feel guilty enough that he wasn't the one I chose.

"As long as Donghae doesn't hear me, it's fine”, Henry discerned my reminder.

At this rate, Donghae might never hear it.  

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ae-Young!" Eunhyuk flagged me down. It was after school and I was shuffling along in penguin formation with the rest of the student body. It wouldn't take him long to reach me with my giant cast slowing me down.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked once he reached me. He held up a finger and flipped open his phone. I was given the device to see the screen. I read the tiny print and glanced at the picture.

"Cake decorating class?" I handed the phone back to Eunhyuk.

“Yeah! It’s perfect, eh? The class is tomorrow! You and I should do it together ‘cause….uh I haven’t found Donghae a gift either.”

I reasoned with my inner conscience. Yeah, in what world did I have enough time to get Donghae a gift? His birthday was tomorrow, so a Happy Birthday Cake was delicious and it can be made personal…..

“Ok, but it has to be after 6:30 because I have work till then.”

“So I’ll meet you at…..” Eunhyuk proceeded to give me the address for the place where the class was held. Throughout the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening, I kept thinking to myself: With Donghae’s unexplainable mood, would I even be able to give him the cake?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Wow, this is the real deal!” I exclaimed at the sight of the cake decorating class. It wasn’t a how-to class, but more like where people got to pick what they wanted and then stick it on there.

There was an assembly line of decorations, shaped cakes, and icing of many colors. Everything was priced differently, but at a reasonable price. Eunhyuk and I stepped up to the white board explaining the paying procedure and price of the differently shaped cakes.

“What should we pick?” I asked him for his input as we scanned the list of cakes.

“Definitely not the hearts…….” Eunhyuk mumbled aloud, “Umm, let’s go with the chocolate round.” He faced a lady behind a fold up table, “One chocolate circle cake please!”

“Yes!” The lady reached behind her and picked up a chocolate cake. She set it on the table between the three of us, “That’ll be ₩10,000.”

Eunhyuk was preparing to pull out his wallet, but I stopped him and paid for it instead, “I’ll get the price of the cake, and you can pay for the icing and decorations,” I told him and whisked our cake away to the second part of the line, the frosting.

There were so many colors to choose from. Red, blue, pink, white, green, yellow, purple. A lone brown no doubt represented chocolate. Eunhyuk and I debated for a bit before deciding that blue was the best option. Donghae’s favorite color was blue.

“Nothing too embarrassing,” I warned Eunhyuk as we approached the decorations. There were numerous cutesy sugar stick ons like hearts, bows, stars, flowers, ribbons, dots, and fruit. I saw squeezable chocolate, which I grabbed. It would be good for writing on the face of the cake. Eunhyuk also took white, decorative frosting, balloons, and a couple bows and stars.

We sat down at a fold up table with matching chairs, and began to create our present. It was fun being with Eunhyuk, but I could also sense the difference in aura from everyone else around us. This class was mainly made of couples who were giggling and playing all lovey dovey-like. It was a tad unnerving, but I let it go. The only thing I was worried about was other people thinking Eunhyuk and I were together. That would just be…..weird.

I was also worried over that Donghae hadn’t come by the café at the usual time to take me home. It was out of character for Donghae not to show up period. A call or text saying that he couldn’t come would have been appreciated. But after Eunhyuk snapped at me for not paying attention, I set this matter in the back of my mind.

I never pegged Eunhyuk for someone who was handy in the kitchen. He spread the base icing on so smoothly that he took over mainly once I failed miserably. There wasn’t a speck of brown to be seen under the rich, blue coating. It was the same with the white trim he laced delicately around the top and bottom rim. The way he was decorating the cake put housewives to shame. I also blessed him with the honor of writing Happy Birthday Hae. We took practice runs with the squeezable chocolate on wax paper, and yet again I showed off my talents for not being able to avoid uneven clumps. To demonstrate how superior he was, Eunhyuk even wrote the three words in English.

Since there was nothing left to do, I was in charge of the aesthetic appeal. I placed the two balloons on either side of the message and stuck on the three stars in a swooping formation below Hae. The large, pink bow was tilted on an angle on the corner of Happy. We had two bows at the beginning, but Eunhyuk wanted to know what sugar decorations tasted like.

In the end, our tab came out to be ₩22,50. I had made the right decision, paying for the cake. The decorations and icing turned out to be more than the cake itself! We were proud of our birthday present, and happy that the nervousness and stress of finding one was finally over, barely 12 hours before we would see the birthday boy again.

“How are we going to give it to him?” I asked Eunhyuk as we were slipping on our coats and gathering our things, getting ready to head home.

“Tomorrow is Saturday, so let’s do a party!” Eunhyuk answered excitedly.

“Where would we host the party?”

“At the dance studio Donghae and I practice at. Just invite our friends and you guys can all pop in with the cake and stuff. I’ll bring the silverware.”  

“Don’t we need other stuff?”

“Not really. When I asked Donghae a while back about his birthday, he convinced me to act like it’s never going to happen.” Eunhyuk wrapped his scarf tightly around his neck.

Maybe that’s why Donghae’s been in a bad mood! He hasn’t been looking forward to his birthday, which subconsciously changed his attitude. So he’s not mad at me, but pissy in general!

“Alright!” I tugged my last jacket button in place with a smile, “What time should we be there tomorrow?”

“11. We usually start practicing at 10.”

“See you then!” I slipped on my backpack, “Bye!” I waved and stepped out the door. That weight seemed to lift off my shoulders.

The building where the class was held was surprisingly close. It was about a 15 minute walk, so I got home at 9. I texted Henry that I was on the way home, since he was the one I had told I would be staying out considerably late. As long as I was home before 10, Leeteuk and Kangin wouldn’t begin to panic.

As I passed through the gate of my house, I was faced with an unusual sight. Donghae was standing on my doorstep, talking to Henry in the doorway. They heard the gate shut close, and both faced me. Henry murmured to Donghae, and then shut the door, leaving the two of us alone.

“Hey!” I greeted brightly. I closed the space between us and tried to kiss him, but Donghae stepped back, away from me.

“Is something wrong?” My voice wavered slightly. This had to be a deeper reason than being upset over his birthday.

“Where were you?” He asked stoically.

“I was out with Eunhyuk,” I answered slowly as if whatever I said wouldn’t be what he wanted to hear.

“Why?”

“Because……” My voice died. I couldn’t tell him what we had been doing. It was going to be a surprise, “because-” I tried again but this time Donghae interrupted me.

“Why can’t you just look me in the eyes and say it!” The tone of Donghae’s voice had me doing just that. There was anger, which I could tell he was failing to conceal.

“I saw you two, together yesterday. But why did you do it?! Why did you have to lie!” Donghae sighed heavily and placed his hands on his hips.

I was nervous at first because he had seen Eunhyuk and I on Thursday. What if I had bought Donghae’s birthday present that day? But as I processed the last two sentences, I could tell that he didn’t think Eunhyuk and I were out together, trying to find him a present.

“There was no other way-!” Donghae didn’t let me finish again.

“There was no other way to go secretly fool around with my best friend?!  Next time, you two better pick a better place where you can’t get caught!”

Without knowing, the sound of our conversation was escalating by the second, and we were in a full out fight. We were in each other’s faces, and not in a good way.

“We weren’t doing anything wrong!” I yelled back at him.

“I saw you two!” Donghae denied my protests.

“I was not CHEATING ON YOU!” I screamed at him. Donghae faltered slightly. Was I finally getting to him?

“Do you want to know why Eunhyuk and I have been going out together for the past three days?” I asked rhetorically, “Because we were trying to find you a birthday present! We went to the mall on Thursday, but didn’t find anything.”

“But what was with the bubble tea? You said that Eunhyuk better not tell me about it…” Donghae trailed off, his voice had dropped dramatically and was choked up.

“You saw that?” I myself calmed down. Any boyfriend or girlfriend in that situation would think his/her partner was cheating after hearing that line, “By that I meant that Eunhyuk better not tell you that we were out at the mall. I wanted your gift to be a surprise.”

“So you were out with him again tonight, doing the same thing?” Donghae’s chest deflated and I knew all the fight was out of him.

“Yeah. We got your birthday gift for tomorrow,” I took the opportunity to hug him tightly. Donghae didn’t hesitate in wrapping his arms around me and burying his head between my neck and shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Donghae mumbled, “I shouldn’t have overreacted like that.”

“No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have lied to you.” I selfishly inhaled his cologne and comforted myself in his warmth.

“But I didn’t trust you!”

“Be that as it may, let’s just promise to talk it out calmly first before jumping to conclusions.” I disregarded our misunderstanding.

“Ok,” Donghae relented. He brought a hand to my face and turned it up to his. He didn’t kiss me, but just my cheek while staring right into my eyes.

                “I’m so sorry,” My boyfriend whispered sadly.

                “It’s fine,” I offered a light smile.

                “Time’s up!” The door suddenly opened and Kangin and Leeteuk were watching us in their parent-like modes, “Say goodnight! Let’s get this over with!” Kangin made a snapping motion. I giggled and pecked Donghae on the lips just to irk Kangin, and I also wanted to. Leeteuk laughed, but that lit a fuse and Kangin yanked me inside.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Donghae’s Pov

                I can’t believe I just didn’t trust her. After what she had revealed to me about her messed up past with Cho Kyuhyun, why would I think that she would drop me just like that? I wasn’t acting like how a good boyfriend should. I needed to change.

                Tomorrow was my 17th birthday. Not only was I getting older and approaching the days I had to start thinking about college, I also had a girlfriend and a dream I had yet to fulfill. I had to become a man who is serious about chasing his dream, while also taking responsibility for my girl. Starting from the moment it became my birth day, I was going to change. And a way I could start it with a bang was this….

                I stared at the tall bottle on the corner of the counter in the bathroom. It was standing there, testing me, mocking me. “Can you go through with this?” It seemed to ask. I grabbed it with confidence. Yes, I could.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Your Pov

                “Ouch! Stop elbowing me in the stomach!”

                “I’m not, that’s Yesung!”

                “It’s not me, that’s Kangin!”

                “AH! Get the balloon out of my face!”

                “It’s just a balloon, Chullie.”

                “Now there’s three! Shindong’s doing it on purpose! Make him stop Geng!”

                “Shindong……”

                “Yah! You’re crinkling my shirt!”

                “Stop obsessing you Diva!”

                “Will you all just shut up!” I hissed at the guys packed around me, “Our voices echo for god’s sake!”

                “How much do we have to wait out here?” Leeteuk asked whilst checking his watch.

                “We can barge in, in three…two….one-”

                With that everyone gratefully flooded into the practice room. I barely escaped being trampled, and tried not to look like a bat out of hell, as I sprinted out of the way of the oncoming stampede of testosterone. The guys immediately broke out into a very loud chorus of Happy Birthday. Shindong held the balloons while dancing around and annoying Heechul more with the balloons.

                Donghae had his face covered with his hands in surprise. Eunhyuk was laughing at his reaction and clamping him on the back encouragingly. With the end of the song, we broke out into applause, and Eunhyuk brought out the cake he had been hiding in his practice bag. Donghae came to me first, which made me happy, but ever since we had entered the room, I noticed something different about him.

                “What did you do to your hair?” I asked after he hugged me. I ran a hand through his new, short, brunette do. He shyly smiled and held that hand.

                “I decided it was time for a change,” He shrugged casually.

                “It looks good,” I approved.

                “Are you just saying that? Cause Key said the same, but I don’t trust him.”

                “No, it really looks good,” I laughed and assured him, “Did you see the present Eunhyuk and I made?”

                “The cake? Not really, let’s go,” Donghae moved us over to the group who were huddling over the cake already.

                The events that led up to Donghae’s birthday were unfortunate, but now that was of the past. Everything was back to normal. As I scanned everyone’s faces in contentment, my mood dropped slightly because there was one person missing. Henry had yet to hold a conversation with Donghae, and now he wasn’t coming to the party because he said, and I quote:

                “I don’t want to go to a party where there will be another guy all over the girl I love.”

                “What are you thinking about?” Donghae’s arm glided over my shoulders.

                “Nothing,” I nodded and leaned on him. I picked lightly at the cake on my lap. It was good, but I just wasn’t that hungry.

                “Thank you for a great birthday,” Donghae whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek. I grinned widely.

                “You’re welcome. Let’s hope there will be many more to come.”

                “What are you implying? Am I going to die soon?” Donghae chuckled.

                “Yes you old geezer.” I said straight faced.

                “Ah you’re so mean!” Donghae pouted.

                “You know, we still have to carry out the birthday smacks,” I said loudly enough for Eunhyuk and Kangin to hear.

                “ smacks, YEAH!” Kangin and Eunhyuk rejoiced in unison and dragged Donghae to the wall to proceed with the punishments.

A/N: I figured I needed, and owed it to you all, to end the mishaps between Younggie and Donghae before the chapter ended. But the next ones.....muahahaha there WILL be some drama!!! School starts in a week and a half for me T.T I don't want to go back! They won't take me alive!!!!