A couple of weeks had gone by and I was nearing the end of my vacation. Seunghyun had recently been cast in a film, so he wasn’t around as much as I would have liked. But it was beyond my control, and I was incredibly excited for the great opportunity that was given to him. He often left early in the morning and didn’t get home until late in the evenings. 

 

The other members were also busy with their own schedules. Ji Yong had begun the production of his solo album and Seungri was busy working on his own solo projects abroad. Most days I spent with Daesung or Young Bae, as their schedules weren’t as jam packed as the others. But I didn’t mind, they were great company and it allowed me to strengthen my relationships with them. 

 

Last week I discovered something that might be a solution to my situation with school. I found out that my program offered courses online and I could finish my degree from abroad, without having to be physically present in classes on my campus. I hoped that I could qualify for this and applied for the program right way, without mentioning it to Seunghyun. It wasn’t something I wanted to get his hopes up about, especially if I didn’t get into the program. I had been waiting nervously for a reply, but so far nothing had come yet. 

 

On one particular morning before Seunghyun left for work, my phone went off after receiving a text message. I opened my eyes at the noise and saw Seunghyun peeping over at the screen of my phone, looking to see who had texted me. 

 

“Who is it?” I asked him sleepily. 

 

“It’s from Lily. Did you want to see it?” He held my phone out to me. But I shook my head. 

 

“I’ll check it later…it’s too earlyyyy…” I rubbed my eyes and I heard him chuckle and put my phone back on the desk. 

 

“I’m leaving now. I’ll see you later tonight.” He leaned in to give me a goodbye kiss then left the room, closing the door behind him. The last thing I heard was voices coming from the hallway before I fell back to sleep. 

 

A few hours later, I woke up and stretched in bed. Remembering about the text message from earlier, I reached over to my phone and read the text from Lily: 

 

Happy birthday, Yuri!! I hope you’re still enjoying your break and that your new found love is still going strong! Have a great day! <3

 

I smiled at the message and wrote back to her and thought about how I didn’t mention to any of the guys that it was my birthday today. I didn’t mind that they didn’t know, it was no different than any other day. I didn‘t want to make a big deal out of it. I was just another year older.  

 

I freshened up in the bathroom and on my return to the bedroom I was intercepted by Daesung. 

 

“YURI-AH!” His voice boomed throughout the apartment as he looked at me excitedly. After being around him a lot over the past couple of weeks, we had gotten more comfortable talking to each other. “Is today really your birthday?!” 

 

“Huh? What? How did--I mean, yeah it is, but how did you find out?” 

 

He smiled brightly. “Seunghyun hyung told me this morning. He saw the message on your phone from your friend. I have a nice day planned if you don’t mind spending it alone with me. Young Bae went with Ji Yong hyung to work today.” 

 

So much for getting away without anyone finding out it was my birthday, I sighed to myself. “Ok! I’ll get ready and we can do whatever it is you had planned.” Grateful, I smiled back at him. He nodded happily and we both retreated to our rooms to get dressed. 

 

We hopped into the car and Daesung started us off on our journey. After a few minutes, I started getting more curious about our destination. “Daesung, where are you taking me?”

 

He looked at me long enough to smile and turned back to the road. “Don’t worry, Yuri-ah, you’re safe with me. I have lots of fun planned for us today.” 

 

Soon we arrived at what looked like a theme park. I could see the rides and tents from the parking area as soon as we entered. I wore a surprised expression. “Ya! Daesung, I didn’t know there was a place like this so close to the apartment. I haven‘t been to an amusement park since I was a little kid.” 

 

He smiled, “Yup, we used to come here a lot in our spare time, but these days there aren’t too many times we can spend our time freely to come to a place like this. But today is a special occasion!” 

 

I hopped excitedly out of the car and we walked together to the entrance.