She was a bit odd in that way.

Everyone else had moved on.

Only she stayed in the same place.

But she was not quite alone either.

Inspiration ß My Own

...xXx...

If there was one thing she had learned over the years as a friend of Minjung, it was that she always had something up her sleeve, especially when she had that look in her eye. She had known Dari for a long time as well so she had known automatically that there was something up. Adding onto that, Jinju, who usually took it upon herself to "stay out of peasants' work" had looked strangely sly the past few days as well. Only Sooyeon, who innocently stayed out of their way half simply from her obliviousness and the other half from experience, and Seungyeon, who cared for them about as much as she cared about a stack of cards - entertaining but only so - remained the same.

So, when her birthday came rolling around, Miyoung automatically knew something was up, especially with Minjung's look, Dari's gestures, and Jinju's smiles.

She confronted Dari once.

"What's going on anyways?" she questioned, trying her best to use the whole intimidating effect that Minjung used on erts before.

"Nothing much," Dari answered, smiling. "I just can't wait! Minjung, Jinju, and I'll introduce our boyfriends to you on your birthday."

Miyoung raised an eyebrow. Somehow that wasn't all of it, but she let it go anyways; she wouldn't be able to pry anything else out of Dari.

She confronted Jinju twice.

The first time ended without any answers when the bell rang and the two had to go to class.

The second time was a bit more successful.

"Well, let's just say it's something...magical," Jinju had admitted and that was it. But Jinju had called it "magical" so there was definitely something amazing about it.

She didn't confront Minjung who could be scary at times and was almost always busy texting her boyfriend.

Then her birthday rolled by.

It started out normally enough - her sister promising to be nice for the day, her mother baking her favorite breakfast, her dad sending her $20 and telling her to "go nuts" - just the usual.

Then, it was only after work (Thank the lord she decided to be a video game tester.), that things went...oddly.

Dari, Jinju, and Minjung kidnapped her along with their other friends Kyo and Kailin. Then came the all-out shopping spree (three video games, a new sweater, and the Bleach shirt she had been eyeing) and the quick stop at the local drug store (no, not real drugs) for - the snack that smiles back - goldfish. 

She expected, then, to return to the apartment she shared with them and have a party as their birthday (not-so) surprise parties went. However, they insisted she be blindfolded and after some time, she realized that they couldn't have been heading to her apartment since the drive was much too long. 

She questioned them of course - most likely would have caused them to go insane from her curiosity if they weren't so used to her already - but they remained tight-lipped.

"Where are we going?"

"Are we there yet?"

"When are we going to be there?"

"Is there more goldfish?"

"Who's going to be there?"

"How much longer will this take?"

"Why is the car ride so long?"

Eventually, amidst her friends' silence and her consistent questions, the car pulled up somewhere and with help, they led her somewhere, helping her go wherever it was they led without too many injuries.

That was bad planning on their part, she decided, since they knew that she was clumsy enough without being blind.

"There's a puddle."

"Watch the step."

"There are stairs here."

"Grab the railing."

"Watch your head."

"Don't-...Never mind," Minjung muttered as Miyoung d around for a door handle and swung it open.

"Why? What?"

"Wrong room," Jinju hollered before a door shut resolutely. "Jeez Maknae. Causing trouble even when you can't see."

She pouted but she knew Jinju was only teasing. 

They led her into a room and placed her in a chair. She couldn't see anything past the blindfold so she waited patiently for their "surprise." There were undistinguishable whispers plus a loud "Ow!" and "Shut up!" that accompanied it.

"You can take off the blindfold," Dari announced and so she did.

She gasped.

She was in a practice room - not somewhere she knew but a place that she was familiar with slightly if only due to her long hours dancing by herself, letting the music pulse within her. But that wasn't why she gasped. The lights in the room were bright, highlighting a familiar male in the center of the room.

Freaking Zhang Yixing.

She choked.

"Whoa maknae!" Jinju shouted as a water bottle landed in her lap. "Don't die."

She pried open the bottle and drank, coughing, but waving a hand.

"I'm ok...I think. Am I dead?" she dared to question, turning behind her where the three girls were huddled together around something.

"You live...for now. You'll die after your birthday surprise," Dari snapped, that biting sarcasm giving her the familiarity she missed.

"K," she breathed out just as music surrounded the room. She glanced at the girls; they had been surrounding the stereo system. Then she turned her attention to Lay and like Dari had pointed out, she died as Yixing danced, a solo dance just for her.

And Umma had always said they would never meet their idols long enough to actually date let alone marry "realistically speaking."