"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!" Mr and Mrs Kim sang loudly, beaming and clapping.

So Eun smiled gratefully at them and blew out the candles. She bit her lip for a bit before suddenly bursting out of her chair, running to her parents. She threw her arms around them both and hugged them tightly, sighing.

"Woah woah." Mr Kim laughed and hugged his daughter and wife back. "Try to remember you're 18 now, not some 3 year old girl. It hurts when you decide to pounce at us like that." he ruffled So Eun's hair.

So Eun tried hard not to cry but the tears were welling in her eyes so quickly. She blinked the tears away and smiled as brightly as she could. "I love you, umma, appa." she murmured sincerely. "It's been such a pleasure for me to be your daughter. It's the best thing that has ever happened in my life."

Mrs Kim softened and kissed So Eun on the cheek. "We love you too." she smiled. "Your father and I have always and will always love you. Having you as our daughter is also the best thing that has happened in our lives."

Mr Kim pouted at Mrs Kim jokingly. "Hey, twenty years ago you told me that meeting me was the best thing that happened in your life."

"Well obviously twenty years back I didn't know better." Mrs Kim teased back. Mr Kim smiled and ruffled So Eun's hair again. "Your mother's right, having you as our daughter is the best thing that happened in our lives. Grow up well and live happy, So Eun."

"Thanks Appa." So Eun sniffled. She really really didn't want to part with her parents, with her friends, with Daehyun.

Why did people want to know when they were supposed to die? If you knew, wouldn't it make everything more painful like it was now?

So Eun looked back at the BAP boys and at the table full of goodies that her parents had packed from the restaurant. "Come on, I'm hungry. Time for my birthday dinner!" she hopped over to the table and handed out plates to everyone. Daehyun went to help her, gazing at her softly.

So Eun smiled and chattered even more incessantly than usual, and Daheyun could see that she was trying her best to put on a cheerful front in front of everyone else.

But he also knew that she was sad and scared inside.

He glanced at the clock and sighed softly. Only 3 hours left of So Eun's birthday. Hong Yu would be sure to appear any time now.

Daehyun reached out for So Eun's hand under the table and gave it a small squeeze of assurance.

-----

Mr Kim snapped his head towards Daehyun and stared at his hand. "Daehyun ah, why are you holding my hand?" he blinked in confusion.

Daehyun snapped his gaze down to the hand he was holding and promptly let go of it, his face reddening rapidly. No wonder So Eun's hand felt rougher and bigger all of a sudden. He cleared his throat and he could feel a few of the BAP boys laughing silently, a vast difference from the initial tensed atmosphere.

Perhaps it was good that he made that mistake, because it distracted everyone from the problem at hand.

"Sorry." Daehyun looked down at his plate and quickly ate his spaghetti. "I uhm..I was intending to..." his brain decided to leave him at that crucial moment.

He met So Eun's eyes and saw the laughter in hers, and he made a face back. So Eun laughed softly and shook her head. Aigoo. How Awkward.

"Was there someone else's hand you were intending to grab, Daehyun?" Mrs Kim asked slyly, grinning. "Just that my yeobo was sitting too close to So Eun and you mistook my husband for my daughter?"

"No!" Daehyun fanned himself discreetly. He eyed the BAP boys who were close to bursting out in laughter, especially the stupid Youngjae who looked really suspicious hiding his face behind the large lettuce. "Why would I want to hold So Eun's hand?" he snapped, pretending to be angry.

"Yeah!" So Eun nodded. "I don't want to hold Daehyun's hand either."

Daehyun frowned at So Eun and So Eun grinned. She kicked him under the table while her expression appeared neutral on top of the table.

Mr Kim looked over at his daughter. "Yah So Eun, why did you kick me now?" he frowned.

So Eun and Daehyun met eyes and blinked. Oops.

-----

"Aish." Daehyun raked his fingers through his hair. "We wanted to keep it a secret."

The gang were having their desserts at the living room and the parents were questioning the couple on their newly revealed relationship. The BAP boys had laughed so loudly when So Eun accidentally kicked her father under the table and that gave everything away.

So Eun shifted uncomfortably under everyone's gaze. "Stop staring at us like that Appa!" she patted her cheeks. "It's so embarrassing!"

Mr Kim looked at his wife and raised his brows. "Wow how did you know about them, Yeobo? I had no idea what was going on even when the two of them are living under the same roof as I am." he scratched his head.

Mrs Kim laughed and looked at So Eun and Daehyun. "I actually had suspicions about the both of you before this." she admitted. "I always thought Daehyun liked you, So Eun, even though he was a little strange in the way he chose to show his affections."

Daehyun cleared his throat, embarrassed. He looked at her parents. "So...Omonim, Abeonim, you two are okay with this?" he pointed to So Eun and him. "Us?"

"Okay? We're more than okay!" Mr Kim exhaled dramatically. "I thought my daughter would remain on the shelf for the rest of her life, I was so worried!" he joked. "Anyway, we must start that talk one day about taking precautions and-"

"APPA!!!!" So Eun squeezed her eyes shut. "I only just turned 18! Don't talk like that!"

"18's old enough!" Mr Kim shrugged, nonchalant.

"Mr Kim," Yongguk leaned forwards, grinning slyly. "Since you're going to give the talk to Daehyun, why not talk to Jongup at the same time since he's dating Haerin over here." he pointed to Jongup and Haerin.

Jongup's jaw dropped and his face reddened till he looked like a tomato. Haerin choked on her own saliva and patted her own chest, gulping.

"Yeah, why not!" Mr Kim wriggled his brows.

"APPA!" "YEOBO!" Mrs Kim and So Eun chorused, shaking their heads.

They continued talking and laughing as the hours went by. So Eun looked at the clock and bit her lip. 9pm. Why wasn't her birthday ending yet? She thought it would have been around 11pm by now. She felt tired and the boys looked tired too.

Suddenly, something strange happened.

Mr and Mrs Kim who were originally laughing along with the rest of the teenagers suddenly stopped laughing, shutting up so abruptly that Himchan nearly thought they were angry. Then they rose up from their seats in a robotic manner, slowly shuffling out towards the door.

Daehyun swallowed, feeling a shiver down his spine. "Omonim." he called. "Abeonim?"

The parents didn't respond, making their way slowly towards the front door like they couldn't hear him. Daehyun's heart thumped loudly in his chest, knowing where this was going. This was just the beginning of it all.

He jumped up from his seat the same time So Eun did, and they rushed to Mr and Mrs Kim, holding them back. "Umma, where are you going?" So Eun pulled on her mother's arm. "Sit back down and let's continue talking."

"Must. Go. Out. For. Walk." Mrs Kim murmured. She didn't even seem to be using any strength but she managed to pull away from So Eun even though the lattere used up all her strength to hold her mother back. Daehyun tried the same but there seemed to be a magnetic pull that was attracting the parents out of the house.

The moment the parents got out of the house, the door slammed in Daehyun's face before he could follow them out. He jumped back in surprise, immediately reaching out to take So Eun's hand and squeezing it.

The boys leaped up to their feet and stared around them, cautious. "What the hell happened?" Yongguk muttered. "The door just slammed on it's own."

"And Noona's parents suddenly acted so strange." Zelo squeaked. "Like they were possessed or something. What is happening?"

Haerin sidled nearer to Jongup fearfully and he gave her an assuring look.

"Look, maybe her parents were just trying to scare us and the wind was a little strong..." Himchan his lips nervously. He didn't know if he was shivering because of his nerves or because it genuinely felt slightly colder in the room than before.

Daehyun was on full protective mode right then. He knew that this signalled the start of Hong Yu's games and he had no idea how Hong Yu would decide to scare them for his own entertainment right then.

His heart was beating so quickly.

He had waited more than eighty years for So Eun to be reincarnated again. He couldn't lose her so quickly.

He glanced down at So Eun and caught her feeling the ring around her neck from under her shirt. She let out a shaky breath and shivered. "Himchan must be right. It's the wind."

"I hope so too." Haerin nodded. "And maybe it's the wind causing the room to feel this cold because it's like the fridge right- Jongup?" she frowned at her boyfriend who started moving across the room towards So Eun. "Jongup where are you going?"

Daehyun didn't expect anything from Jongup because the latter was supposed to be a friend, a dongsaeng, someone trustable. Jongup was the nicest guy in BAP, and probably the nicest guy in the whole of Seoul as well. There was no reason why he should suspect Jongup of doing anything stupid or vaguely wrong.

But he forgot something important.

Jongup wasn't Jongup right there.

And he finally realized something was wrong with the way Jongup advanced towards So Eun in that menacingly slow manner when Jongup reached out and wrapped his fingers around So Eun's slender neck.

And he squeezed.