The surprise was a success. The decorations, food, and presents were all set up by the time JulSu and HyunSeung arrived back at the dorm. The BEAST members, MAKIKO members, and their friends all hid at designated spots behind couches, behind cabinets, inside bedrooms and under tables before the two entered the dorm. HyunSeung was especially surprised since he was not aware that the party would be for him as well. He and JulSu beamed as everyone yelled out “Surprise!” and started hugging them and greeting them a happy birthday. Everyone was having a blast.

That is, everyone except DongWoon.

But let’s back up a bit.

“Unni, you guys made it!” RaeIn said, hugging JiHyun first then moving onto JiYoon and SoHyun. KaHee followed suit and hugged each of them also.

“Of course we did!” JiHyun said smiling. “But we can’t stay too long because we’ve got to get back to the practice studio. We’ve got a performance tomorrow…”

“Oh, that’s okay! As long as you guys can stay for the surprise. And try some of my cake!” exclaimed KaHee.

“By the way, why is there only three of you right now?”

“GaYoon and HyunAh had something going on that they couldn’t get out of,” SoHyun said, pensively holding a finger to . “I can’t remember what it was though…”

“Good,” KaHee muttered under her breath. RaeIn nudged her to be quiet. KaHee was still a bit apprehensive towards HyunAh for dancing with KiKwang.

“Should I call HyunSeung to head back now?” YoSeob asked, strolling into the room, unaware that 4Minute had arrived. “Oh! Hi, guys!” He ran over to hug each of them also.

“No, don’t text him yet!” KaHee exclaimed. “KiKwang’s not here yet.”

“Who’s not here?” KiKwang asked, poking his head through the already open door. He looked at everyone and greeted them with a “Hi-yeom!” and matching smiling eyes.

“All right, I’m going to call HyunSeung now!” YoSeob said, and everyone followed him inside. While he talked to HyunSeung, everyone gathered in the living room.

“Okay,” YoSeob said, clapping his hands together. “He said that they’ll be here soon, so we should find our hiding places now!”

“I’m hiding here,” JunHyung said, taking his place behind a couch. YoSeob followed him. DooJoon grabbed RaeIn’s wrist and dragged her, past the couch, and into the hallway that led to the bedrooms and bathroom. RaeIn glared at the oblivious JunHyung as they passed him. They reached the hallway and found DongWoon was there also, so the three took their places, crouching behind the entrance. KaHee dragged KiKwang with her to hide behind the kitchen door. JiHyun hid under the coffee table, while SoHyun and JiYoon hid behind the TV. Their managers, JiYong & SaRang were at the party as well, and they chose their hiding spots next to the computer.

“Oh, I just got a text,” YoSeob said, reaching for his phone. He gasped excited as he whispered, “They’re coming! They’re here!”

The room grew silent as they anticipated the arrival of the birthday celebrants. The distant chatter from the two slowly grew closer, when finally they could hear:

“Oh, Oppa would you like to come inside our dorm?” It was JulSu.

“No, that’s fine, I don’t think…” HyunSeung.

“No!” JunHyung whispered. “HyunSeung, you better not mess up our party for you again!” YoSeob snickered beside him.

“No, I insist, Oppa!” JulSu again.

“Okay, okay, I guess it should be fine…” HyunSeung agreed. Finally, they could hear rustling outside while JulSu unlocked the door. Slowly, the doorknob turned. A little more… a little more…

“Wow, it’s so dark in here. I guess no one’s home,” JulSu mused out loud. The door was finally open. She felt for the light switch on the wall, while HyunSeung followed behind her, taking off his shoes. She switched on the light and then…

“SURPRISE!” Everyone joyously jumped out of their hiding spots, taking in the shocked expression on JulSu’s face. HyunSeung stood smugly behind her, happy to have been in on the surprise.

“Happy birthday JulSu and HyunSeung!” shouted various party guests. DooJoon, YoSeob and RaeIn jumped up to point at the banner spelling out the same phrase, proud of their handy work. Immediately, HyunSeung’s expression changed, and his eyes grew wide with surprise as well.

“M-me too?” he asked, pointing to himself. “I thought the party was just for JulSu!”

“Yes, of course! It’s both of your birthdays,” said JiYong. JulSu and HyunSeung looked at each other immediately, mirroring each other’s grins.

“So you knew about this?” JulSu asked, suspiciously, raising one eyebrow.

“I guess I didn’t know about it completely,” HyunSeung replied, eyes disappearing with a smile. He stuck his hand behind his head while he chuckled.

“Thanks so much, everybody,” JulSu said, turning to everyone at the party. Her eyes were starting to well up.

“Don’t cry~” RaeIn yelled at her dongsaeng.

“Right,” JulSu responded. “But I’m just so happy!”

“See, tears of happiness: what you were supposed to have earlier,” DooJoon whispered to RaeIn. As expected, she responded with a light punch to his stomach. He grabbed onto his stomach, pretending to really be hurt, though laughing at the same time. RaeIn did the same.

The party officially started and everyone went off to do their own thing. YoSeob, KiKwang and KaHee tackled the food table while JunHyung, JiHyun and JiYoon started up the karaoke machine. SoHyun ran over to Julsu, handing her a bag. “Unni, this is for you.” She handed one to HyunSeung, also. “And this one’s for you, Oppa! Happy birthday, you two!” And with that, she skipped off to join her 4Minute members to sing karaoke.

“Wait, so… HyunSeung-oppa,” JulSu said, turning to HyunSeung, grabbing a hold of his arm. “I didn’t get you a present.”

HyunSeung laughed. “You don’t have to get me a present. Actually, I didn’t get you one either…”

“But you took me out earlier, before the party,” JulSu insisted. “What do you want for your birthday?”

A song started playing in the background and HyunSeung and JulSu looked at the scene behind them.

“I-i-i-invitation, i-i-i-i-invitation~” JunHyung could be heard starting off the song in the background. Soon, the three 4Minute girls joined in on their karaoke rendition of “Invitation.”

“Yah~ you guys are cheating! You can’t sing your own song!” KaHee and YoSeob ran over to the karaoke crowd to join in. KiKwang followed behind carrying all the snacks, since KaHee and YoSeob left him behind at the food table.

“Well,” HyunSeung started, bringing his attention back to JulSu. He pointed at the group singing karaoke. “We could always sing to each other. That’ll be my present for you, and that could be your present for me also. Come on, let’s go pick a song!” He grabbed JulSu’s wrist and proceeded to drag her towards their friends; it was evident that JulSu was blushing like mad.

——-

Meanwhile on the other side of the party, DooJoon, RaeIn and DongWoon were sitting on a couple chairs near the food table. DongWoon was watching as HyunSeung dragged his dream girl away to the karaoke machine.

“They’re… holding… hands!” DongWoon whined to his companions, burying his face in his hands. He looked up again, face still covered. Peeking through his fingers, he watched as JulSu and HyunSeung (and the rest of their members, but DongWoon was paying no attention to them) sang along together to the current song playing, which was MBLAQ’s “Y.” After he couldn’t take anymore of the current scene, he let out an anguished noise, and continued to slouch over in his seat.

“They’re singing together too~” he wailed.

“…can you believe it? He told me he would be busy today, and yet there he is!” RaeIn spat out, as she vented to her boyfriend. DongWoon’s cries were left unnoticed by her; however Yoon Leader was seated in between the two, going crazy with the influx of emotion coming from either side of him. First he would pat his maknae on the back, muttering a couple, “That’s okay”s and “Everything will be okay”s. Then he would turn to his right and squeeze RaeIn’s hand to try to calm her down with his “I know, I know”s and “Yeah, you’re right”s.

“Hey guys,” YoSeob greeted, joining the three at the food table. He picked up a couple cookies and bit into one. “What are you all talking about?”

RaeIn jumped up at YoSeob and began to rant to him with the same complains she had for most of the party and pre-party. “YoSeob! Let me tell you! That JunHyung has been getting on my nerves…” YoSeob sadly bit into his cookie as RaeIn continued to target him as her new venting buddy. He even slid into the nearest chair, since RaeIn wouldn’t let him leave her.

“What did I get myself into? I was just being nice. What am I thinking sometimes?” YoSeob thought to himself, as he half-heartedly listened to RaeIn’s venting. DooJoon, on the other hand, took this opportunity (i.e. having a distracted RaeIn) to comfort the sullen maknae.

“Yah, DongWoon,” DooJoon said, grabbing a couple cookies from the table as well. He bit into one, and his face lit up. “Yah, Dongwoon!” he repeated, but with much more excitement. “You and KaHee baked these cookies right?”

DongWoon nodded without bothering to lift his head up from his hands.

“They’re really good!” DooJoon said, grabbing a couple more cookies. An idea struck him, and he slyly added, “You should give some to JulSu.”

Finally, DongWoon lifted his head. “You think I should?”

“Yeah!” Leader said enthusiastically. He continued to encourage Maknae. “She’ll love them. And she’ll see your sincerity. Girls love that kind of stuff, right RaeIn?” DooJoon turned towards RaeIn with bright eyes, however she was still venting to YoSeob. “Never mind…” he said quietly as he turned back towards DongWoon, whose expression was full of confidence now.

“All right, Hyung! I will do my best!” He got up and prepared a plate full of cookies, and took a deep breath before proceeding to approach JulSu.

“Hwaiting!” DooJoon yelled after him. However, DongWoon immediately turned around, eyes filled with fear, and he hurried back to his hyung. “What are you doing?” DooJoon exclaimed, as DongWoon backtracked. He got up and turned DongWoon around, pushing him in the direction of the karaoke machine. “Aigo~” he said, as he sat back down on his seat, scratching his head in frustration. He then averted his attention towards RaeIn and YoSeob.

“…and he even came in earlier to help? You’ve got to be kidding me. He could have just told me he was coming and not lied to me, right?” RaeIn was using extravagant hand gestures to express herself so that YoSeob could feel her emotions. YoSeob, however, just continued to nod at her, expressionless. DooJoon sighed, and scratched his head in frustration again, deciding that he would much rather watch DongWoon’s attempts at wooing his damsel rather than listening to his own damsel whine about another boy.

——-

DongWoon stood behind JulSu, who danced along with the other members as they sang to “Bad Girl.” His eyes were wide-open with fear, and he stood frozen for the duration of the whole song. Once the song ended, JulSu finally noticed that he was standing behind her.

“Oh, hey, DongWoonie-oppa! Would you like to join us?” JulSu offered, holding out her microphone. DongWoon cleared his throat in response.

“Um, here, these are for you.” He held out the plate of cookies.

“Aw, thank you so much!” JulSu said with a big smile as she accepted the plate. DongWoon smiled, pleased with her reaction.

“I hope you like them! KaHee and I baked them earlier…” However, he got interrupted as JiHyun handed JulSu the microphone, yelling to her, “This is all you, Birthday Girl! It’s your song!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, DongWoon! Hold on a second…” JulSu set the plate down on the coffee table, before belting out with: “Arigatou to~ Kimi ni iwareru to…” JulSu was half-Japanese, and this was one of her favorite songs from her favorite Japanese artist. And so, as she continued to sing Utada Hikaru’s “Flavor of Life,” DongWoon dejectedly turned around to walk away.

“DongWoon-oppa!” SoHyun had seen DongWoon start to leave and hurried after him. She tapped him on the shoulder as she said his name. “Would you like to sing with us?”

“No, that’s okay,” DongWoon said, not even looking back as he walked back to his hyungs and RaeIn.

“Oh, uh, I’ll be back, RaeIn,” YoSeob said, peeking behind him. He noticed that after DongWoon walked away, SoHyun looked a bit down, awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, left behind. He got up, relieved to get away from RaeIn’s complaining, and headed over to SoHyun.

“Oh,” RaeIn said with surprised eyes. “Okay, then…”

“How did it go?” DooJoon asked, hesitantly, as DongWoon sat back down in his seat.

“Oh, what happened?” RaeIn said, finally joining in on the DongSu drama.

“I tried giving JulSu some of my cookies, but she completely disregarded them,” DongWoon said sadly.

“Really? That doesn’t sound like her. She appreciates everything, especially cookies,” RaeIn mused about her group-mate.

“Well, she did seem like she appreciated it at first… then she completely ignored it once she started singing… with HyunSeung-hyung.” DongWoon sighed.

“Aww, poor maknae,” RaeIn said, as she got up and pat his back to console him. “I totally understand how you feel. That’s what happens every time I try to get JunHyung to hang out with me, like to get ice-cream and stuff. I even brought him pear juice during practice and he didn’t even seem to be happy about it. He makes me so angry, that Yong JunHyung!”

A glint of anger appeared in the corner of DooJoon’s eye. He had just been listening because he thought RaeIn would be comforting DongWoon. However, as soon as the words “Yong JunHyung” escaped RaeIn’s lips, DooJoon stood up violently.

“RaeIn-ah! I don’t want you to call him by his full name.”

“What’s wrong with that?” RaeIn was surprised at his sudden outburst, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t fully prepared to fight back, as was made apparent by her tone of voice.

“This whole time you’ve been talking about JunHyung. Do you even remember what today is?”

“Of course I do! It’s JulSu’s and HyunSeung’s birthday!” RaeIn countered.

“Do you remember what else?” DooJoon retorted, icily. RaeIn froze, suddenly guilt-ridden. She grabbed at the pendant at her neck and stayed quiet. DooJoon eyed the movement of her hand as she grabbed onto it. He looked back up at her face and as they made eye-contact, he grabbed her free wrist and pulled her towards her bedroom so they could talk without causing a scene. “Come with me.” She followed along, obediently, leaving DongWoon alone in his chair. All he could do was sigh.

“Oh, Unni, it’s getting late!” JiYoon said, nudging the leader. “Sorry, guys, we have to head out now because we have practice tonight.”

“Aw, leaving already?” JulSu asked, disappointed.

“We’re sorry,” JiHyun said, giving the birthday girl and birthday boy a hug. “We had a lot of fun though!”

And so, 4Minute left the party. However, JulSu, HyunSeung, JunHyung, KiKwang, and KaHee were still all over the karaoke machine. The managers were hovered over the computer; JiYong was watching SaRang play StarCraft. YoSeob, who had been busy comforting the sullen 4Minute maknae, headed back to the BEAST maknae, who was, as expected, slumped over on his chair.

“Are you feeling better?” YoSeob asked, though he could probably already guess the answer.

“No,” DongWoon said.

“Hmm,” YoSeob mused. “Have you given her your birthday present yet?”

“No,” DongWoon said.

“…Are you going to?” YoSeob interrogated.

“No,” DongWoon said.

“Yes. Yes, you are,” YoSeob said in opposition. He got up to rummage through the gifts and found the bag with the card that said, “To: JulSu, From: DongWoon ^^.” He returned to the depressed maknae and forced him to hold onto his present. “Okay, now you’re going to come with me, and you’re going to give your present to JulSu.” He pulled DongWoon up and dragged him towards the karaoke machine again. “What did you get her anyway?”

“A bracelet,” DongWoon muttered, half-heartedly. “It has charms on it shaped like cookies.”

“Ah, I see, I see. Right, right, because she likes cookies…” YoSeob replied as they reached their destination. “Target sighted: there’s JulSu. Now take a deep breath—“ (DongWoon takes a deep breath) “—and go!”

“Ah, JulSu!” DongWoon said sheepishly, after YoSeob pushed him towards her. “I didn’t give you your present yet…”

“Oh, you didn’t have to!” JulSu said, surprised.

“It’s nothing really… Just a little something, since it’s your birthday.”

“Aw, thank you! I can’t wait to open it later!” She quickly gave DongWoon a hug, which took him by surprise. However, they suddenly heard singing in the background. “E-e-easy go~” JulSu quickly let go of DongWoon, and with wide eyes yelled, “I love this song, HyunSeung-oppa!” She placed DongWoon’s present on the coffee-table next to the cookies, and quickly ran over to HyunSeung, who was holding onto the microphone. DongWoon simply stood there in a daze when she left.

“Yikes,” YoSeob said, after watching everything that happened. He placed a hand on DongWoon’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, DongWoon… Just wait until she opens the present. She’ll love it. And she seemed happy when you gave it to her…”

DongWoon turned around to face his hyung, a goofy grin plastered on his face. “She hugged me! She hugged me!” He rushed over to join everyone on karaoke. Since he hadn’t been singing, they quickly handed the microphone over to him, and input the number for “Mystery” – soon, his inner Arabian Prince took over, and he danced away. “Neon jeongmal mystery, mystery~”

“Aigo,” YoSeob said, shaking his head, grinning, as he walked over to join the fun. “Our maknae… He really is a mystery.”