Note before you read: I know I said i hated doing this, but this chapter switches Point of views between Mina and Chanyeol. Mina starts off in Pink, Chanyeol starts off in blue. Easy enough, right?

It starts off with Mina's POV!

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As sad as it is to say, I kind of came to begrudge birthdays over the past few years. Don’t get me wrong, the celebration of becoming a year older itself were great. But idea of spending it with my family every year…not so much.

Of course, I loved my family to death. And I know it might’ve seemed selfish, but I couldn’t help but yearn for a big surprise party or some kind of get together with my friends to celebrate. You know, those extravagant kinds that you always saw on TV. I didn’t know if that’s how they really were, but it was fun to imagine the possibilities. 

That’s why I was wishfully hoping that something would happen this year with the addition of new friends (and Chanyeol) into my life. But was it really wrong of me to think that way?

Probably.

But that didn’t stop me from doing it.

Maybe I really just needed to it up and move on with my life. After all, I was turning twenty this year, and would officially be kissing my final years as a teenager goodbye.

For all I know, since I was no longer living at home, I might be spending my birthday alone this year.

I should only be that lucky.

…

Receiving a text so early on the morning of my birthday from Baekhyun really wasn’t all that unexpected. Nor was the fact that he wished me a happy birthday, since that much was predictable. It wasn’t even odd that he asked me if I could come over later. The only thing that was weird was the amount of urgency he seemed be trying to get across through the message.

He seemed almost excited when I texted him back that I would be there, since he even took the time to throw multiple emoticons that he normally wouldn’t take the time to make into the text.

But though it was my birthday, it was still just another normal day. I unfortunately still had two classes scheduled for that day that needed to come first.  

Eun Sae and Sumin gave me a few birthday surprises at the beginning of the day that included coffee and a muffin from my favorite café, and a few other personal gifts. Though they were their usual, upbeat selves, I could tell there was something a bit off with them that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. They seemed a little jumpy, and practically leapt at the chance to leave when class was about to start, offering me another happy birthday wish before running off together. I was left to stand there momentarily confused, realizing I wouldn’t have a chance to ask them what was up since their class schedules for the day would run longer than mine. So for once, I had to be in the dark about something between them.

Oh well, I guess there was always tomorrow.

….

The excitement of a birthday was no exception for the painfully long classes I still had to go through. But luckily I had the rest of the day to myself as I walked out of my Music Appreciation class. Instead of feeling the sleepiness that I usually felt around this time of day from having to get up for my 8:00 class, I felt kind of eager to meet Baekhyun and the others. I didn’t know what he had planned, but I was just excited to have friends to spend my Birthday with for the first time in a while.

….

Chanyeol’s POV

As I was fixing to follow Baekhyun and the others out of the dorms, I was forcefully pushed back by my shorter roommate to stop make me in my tracks.

“Nope, you’re staying here. You’ve done enough already.”

I was almost touched at the act of sincerity coming from my usually less-than-compassionate friend. But then I realized, Baekhyun was never like that. Not unless he was scheming something.

“Besides, Mina’s coming over soon, and you need to keep her company.”

I froze.

“Pardon?” I asked, grabbing the back of his shirt to prevent him from moving any further without explaining.

“You heard me, since I unfortunately can’t be here, I entrust her to you! You’re welcome!” he replied, somehow wrenching himself free of my hold.

“And how do you expect me to do that? The girl hates me!”

“Well then let her torture you or something, I don’t know. Just entertain her for a few hours! And besides, you know what she likes, that’s should be easy for you.” He said, throwing a scarf around his neck before attempting to run after Kyungsoo. He paused momentarily, turning around to leave me with a fleeting statement.

“And by the way, I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, Chanyeol. Who knows, maybe its just a strong dislike.”

“Baekhyun!” D.O. yelled from ahead of him.

 “Later!” he quickly shouted before he was out the door.

I stayed standing there for a few moments after he was gone, having an inner turmoil battle with myself.

Not only was I stuck with the problem of trying to figure out what to do with Mina for a few hours, I was also trying to make sense of Baekhyun’s last comment.

Mina doesn’t hate me?

Is there even a remotely possible way for that to be true?

….

Mina’s POV

Sidestepping all of the security it takes to get into the EXO dorm was usually an incredibly harrying task, especially for someone who looks so young that she probably still needs to be accompanied by an adult. But today, it seems like Baekhyun must’ve told them something, because I was able to get through without so much as a hassle. After winding down the floors and hallways of the familiar dormitory building, I eventually got to the designated room.

I knocked once, and waited for someone to answer. But I was only met with silence. I tried once more, louder this time.

“Hello~” I called from outside the door. Still nothing.

Utilizing the spare key I was given to use in case of emergencies (not that there usually were any), I unlocked the door and walked in.

If there was ever a time for me to be confused, it would be now. There wasn’t a single member anywhere in sight. The lights were off; save for a single lamp being on, and the television set was dormant as well. It was completely silent. This was…odd, to say in the least.

“Hello…Baekhyun? Suho? Sehun? Anyone?”

Of course I had the initial thought that maybe I was walking into some kind of surprise party or something. But such an event wouldn’t have left me this long in suspense. No one was here, leaving me extremely confused as to why Baekhyun had asked me to come over.

 “…Mina?”

The sound of my name made me whip around quickly, throwing a hand up to my rapidly beating heart in shock.

“Ch...Chanyeol?”

He was standing there in a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, a towel slung around his shoulders to prevent his slightly dampened hair from soaking his shirt. He looked like he had just been in the process of towel drying his hair before I walked in. No wonder I didn’t even hear him.  

“Um…are you early?” he asked awkwardly.

“Uh,” I said, glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall, which confirmed that I wasn’t, “not really, Baekhyun told me to be here at 2:30...”

He looked over at the clock as well and winced when he realized I was right.

“Ah…” he trailed off, bringing the towel up to his hair again and ruffling it as he headed towards the kitchen and to the refrigerator.

“Speaking of which, where is he? And everyone else for that matter?”

He hesitates, swallowing down a gulp of the water bottle he had gotten before answering.

“They…had some kind of practices that suddenly popped up…”

“And you didn’t?”

“I…finished early?” he replied, having it sound more like a question than an actual fact.

“And none of them thought to tell me this before I got here?”

No sooner had I said this, a vibration in my pocked indicated an incoming text message.

From: Bacon

Mina, so sorry that we had to bail out on you on your birthday, but something suddenly came up m(_ _)m You can get mad at me all you want about it later, but just know that I am really, REALLY sorry. Hope you can somehow forgive me, but if you can’t, at least take it out on Chanyeol.

“Speak of the devil…” I muttered after reading the text. Even though I was somewhat disappointed that he had to cancel, I knew that idol duties came first, which is what I told him in my reply to his message before I slipped my phone back into my pocket.

“Now what am I supposed to do?” I asked open-endedly, not really addressing anyone in particular. Noticing movement out of the corner of my eye, I made a glance at Chanyeol, who had a look of contemplation on his face.

“Do…do you want to come do something with me? To save you the trouble of having come all the way over here?”

I looked at him in disdain.

“Are you asking me on a date?” I asked, completely appalled at this side of Chanyeol.

He scoffed, “you could only dream of being so lucky,” he said, amused.  

“Okay smartass, then where is it that you want to go?” I asked challengingly, more aware that the normal Chanyeol was starting to come through again.

He smirked, pulling the towel from around his shoulders and throwing it at me before making his way over to the door. I could vaguely smell the same musky scent that usually emitted from Chanyeol whenever he decided he wanted to be clean. It was a nice scent, and definitely a little swoon-worthy (not that I would willingly admit that). I pretended to be aggravated and threw it onto the ground.

“Just come on!” he said loudly, slipping a jacket over his shoulders, and grabbing an extra coat just in case the weather got really bad.

“Don’t you need some kind of disguise or something if you go out?”

He looked at me with a grin. “Trust me, there won’t be many girls where we’re going.”

….

“You’re totally joking, right?” I asked, not able to fully believe that Chanyeol had taken me here of all places. 

“Well, it’s not as good as the one back home, but it suffices just the same,” he said excitedly, glancing around giddily like a little kid.

Chanyeol was right. There wasn’t another girl in sight besides the one working at the counters. There were mainly elementary boys and a few older students that must’ve been skipping out on class to be here. Then again, you wouldn’t really expect most girls to be spending their off time in arcade in the first place.

That’s right, an arcade. Of all places.

“Real classy, Chanyeol.”

“What? Think you’re too good for arcades now that you’re twenty? Aigoo, can’t say I’m not disappointed,” he said jokingly.

“Yah…”

He glanced at me sideways and smirked, nudging my side and urging me foreword through the entrance.

“Come on, I’ll go easy on you since it’s your birthday and all,” he said.

And I’m pretty sure he just ignited a competitive flame between the two of us, yet I couldn’t help but smile a little. Instead of feeling like he was being the bratty Chanyeol that I couldn’t stand, he was reverting back into the old Chanyeol again, the one I used to go to arcades with to have multiple-hour long competitions. Instead of being incredibly awkward, the competitive air between us was comfortably familiar. Maybe birthdays really did have magical qualities to them.

“Better hold your tongue Channie, I personally think I’ve gotten better at these games over the years, so you might want to watch yourself.”

His smirk turned into another grin.

“Challenge accepted. Whoever loses should buy the winner whatever they want until the end of the day.”

“Deal. I hope you brought you’re wallet, I have expensive taste when money is involved you know~.”

….

Unfortunately, my confidence only deflated with time as Chanyeol and I continuously changed games.

In the beginning, I was doing pretty well, and had already beaten him at air hockey and skee ball. But then as we got to more of the virtual games, things pretty much went downhill from there. I used to have confidence with my skills. But as it turns out, Chanyeol had pretty much passed me up in terms of ability. Maybe he had passed me up long ago.

“No!” I yelled in desperation as my character lay on the floor, beaten once again.

“Yeah!” Chanyeol yelled in victory, mussing up my hair as he gloated.

“This game is stupid!” I pouted childishly, throwing down the controller and trying to put some of the stray hairs back into place, which was a pointless attempt in and of itself.

“Aww, don’t be such a sore loser!” he said.

“Too late…” I growled, crossing my arms and looking away from his taunting grin. I couldn’t help but admit that it was kind of cute.

I didn’t look back at him until he placed a hand on my shoulder, poking me on the side of the face when I looked over at him. I smacked his hand away and he laughed in amusement.

“You’re such a kid,” I told him, unable to help the smile that slipped through because of his childlike behavior.

“A kid who far surpasses you in terms of skill.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

“Oh I will, especially when you buy me whatever I want,” he said, and the smile all but slid off from my face. I had forgotten about that. As if on cue, his stomach decided to make itself known by growling, quite loudly, I might add.

“In fact, you may have to keep your end of the bet right now. Looks like I’m craving cupcakes, lets go!” he yelled, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along.

He didn’t let go of my wrist until made it to the bakery.

I had heard about this shop before. It was a quaint little place that was usually lidded with couples, a bold choice for someone like Chanyeol to make since it was pretty public and really didn’t offer him much refuge from fans, which is what I was most worried about. Though he didn’t really seem to think about it too much, and was more concerned about getting food.

Cakes and pastries of all different colors, shapes, and sizes rested behind the cool glass of the display case, each once delicately decorated and looking incredibly amazing. And even though there were so many options, there was usually one I strayed towards, regardless of the place’s reputation.

“What can I get for you?” the girl behind the counter asked, though mostly it was mostly towards Chanyeol since I could tell that the cutesy voice and coy smile was most definitely not for me. But thankfully, he completely disregarded her advances.

“Strawberry right?” he asked me, taking me off guard. He was right…

“Uh…yeah.” I said, voice trailing off slightly. I remembered our deal, and started rummaging through my purse for my wallet. That is, until I felt Chanyeol put his hand on the top of my head (a frequent of his), causing me to pause in my actions.

“What?”

“Go find a table, I got it.”

“But you said-“

“I know what I said, so go find a table before I change my mind.”

It was a good thing that I was turned around, because I really wouldn’t have wanted Chanyeol to see the look on my face. It probably would’ve given away the fact that I was incredibly happy at the moment. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing…

After seating myself down in one of the chairs at an open table, I took out my phone to check the time. It took me a moment to realize that the numbers on the screen weren’t lying, and that the time really had flown by, because it was now 7:12 pm.

Jeez, Chanyeol really does now how to have a good time. Just remembering the time we had made me smile goofily.

A voice above me made me tear my eyes away from the screen.

“Mina?”

The sound of his voice made my entire body go on edge. It was the voice I used to love hearing. But now, I just despised it.

It was my ex, Shin Jihoo. He seemed to have his arm wrapped around his current play thing, a pretty girl with fair skin, dark brown eyes, and light brown curly hair that framed her face perfectly. Not to mention she had long legs that seemed to go on for miles.

I couldn’t speak. Every insults or biting words I wanted to throw at him were caught in my throat. Figures he would probably be at a place where couples fester. It was the perfect place for him to make someone fall for his charm. To trick foolish girls like me.

“Oppa, who is this?” I heard the girl quietly ask him, her voice sickly sweet as well.

“Just some girl.”

And there it was with that insult again that always made my throat feel tight.

“Are you here on a date?” he asked, sounding kind of aghast. I looked up to see that he was staring at something behind me. That something decided to be Chanyeol, who I could tell was glaring daggers at Jihoo, who didn’t seem to notice and kept talking.

“Wow, I know it’s kind of been a few weeks, but it looks like you bounce back pretty fast!” he said, laughing like he had just told some amazing joke.

If it were anyone else, I could probably be civil and reply. But not with Jihoo, the boy who had made feel so good about myself, yet incredibly ty at the same time when I was with him. Though I had kind of been glad that our relationship had ended, he had still left me pretty torn up about it. for a while, actually.

Chanyeol must’ve taken note of my silence, since he responded for me.

“What about you huh?” he asked, venom lacing his words.

I was amazed. I had never heard Chanyeol sound like this before. He was the Happy Virus for god’s sake!

“Excuse me?” Jihoo asked, that stupid grin still crowding his face, but less intensely now.

“Bouncing back fast? Pretty big words for someone who practically leapt around while he was currently in a relationship. One that I can’t even see how it happened from the looks of it.”

“Whoa dude, I didn’t mean to insult your girlfriend or anything, but you know how guys are-“

“Well you have insulted her, and don’t even finish that sentence. We’re done here, you can go now.”

I didn’t event think twice about the fact that Chanyeol didn’t deny Jihoo when he called me his girlfriend. It was probably nothing, anyway.

I could tell by Jihoo’s stuttering response that he didn’t have the right words to respond. Nor did he think he could start something with Chanyeol, since the boy easily towered over him with his 185 cm frame.

Instead, he took his girl, who seemed less than impressed with him now, and dragged her off, getting himself out of harms way from Chanyeol.

The first uncomfortable silence of the night was now hanging in the air between us. I took in a shaky breath, about to attempt a follow up statement to everything Chanyeol had just said. But he pushed a sleeved arm in front of me before I could.

“Don’t cry,” he said, not meeting my eyes. “I don’t know what to do with myself when you cry.”

And I did the exact opposite. I smiled in instead, grabbing his sleeve and moving it away from my face. He looked almost stupefied for a moment.

“Thanks, Chanyeol,” I said, briefly squeezing his hand for extra reassurance.

I was taken aback by the slight blush that flamed across his face that made its way all the way to his ears. How cute.

“Yeah, yeah, just eat your cupcake,” he said, shoving the boxed treat towards me. I had almost forgotten about that…

I looked into the box to notice the thing that had taken him so long to get to the table.

Beside the chocolate cupcake he had gotten for himself was my strawberry one, which he had gotten the girl behind the counter to write Happy Birthday Shorty in pink icing across the top of.

“Let’s get one thing straight, even though I’m famous and everything, I’m not singing for you. Wouldn’t want you to pass out in excitement or anything because of my amazing skills.”

And even though Chanyeol’s comment was slightly arrogant, I still don’t think I was able to wipe the smile off my face after that.

….

Once we finished the baked treats (which were amazing, by the way), by some silent agreement, we decided to walk around the streets where multiple vendors selling random items like handmade jewelry, soaps, and hair decorations were scattered.

The streets were lit with numerous glittering lights that dotted the streets and gave everything an almost magical glow, really setting the mood and giving everything a lighthearted feeling.

Chanyeol and I were walking with a comfortable silence lingering between us, neither of us feeling like we needed to talk over the quiet banter of others and street performers who were gracing the streets with their talented music.

It took Chanyeol a moment to notice that I had stopped at a booth where an ahjumma was selling a bunch of knit hats. One hat in particular had caught my attention since it was fluffy, cream colored, and cute, something that I usually strayed towards. I liked it, but I really didn’t bring very much money with me, which was why I was kind of lucky that Chanyeol decided to pay for our cupcakes. So sadly, I had to move forward, and leave the hat behind.

This time, Chanyeol was the one straggling behind while I moved ahead. He handed over the amount needed for the hat to be part of our possession, and the ahjumma smiled in gratitude.

“You two make an adorable couple,” the elderly woman told him.

Chanyeol smiled, and couldn’t bring himself to correct the woman’s compliment.

“Thank you,” he said, before bowing, accepting the hat, and running off after me.

The old woman smiled at the way the young man plopped the hat over the girl’s head, causing her to look at him in surprise, then off to the side in embarrassment. Though the elderly woman caught sight of the girl’s smile even though the boy didn’t.

It was the smile of a girl in love. She knew that look fairly well.

….

Chanyeol’s POV

I honestly wasn’t sure how this night was going to turn out. Frankly, I thought both of us were going to be miserable, and be at each other’s throats the whole time. And yet, I was fairly happy with the results.

I almost forgot why we were out doing this in the first place until I felt a sudden vibration in my back pocket.

From: Baekhyun

Everything’s in place, get over here!

Short and concise, as always. But it was enough to set the rest of the night’s plans into action.

I prevented Mina from going any further, hailing a taxi and pulling the both of us inside.

Before she could ask questions, I pulled the hat that I had purchased for her earlier over her eyes. She looked around disoriented for a while.

“Don’t take it off yet.”

She paused, keeping her hands on her head.

“Is this the part where things take a turn for the worst and I end up on the black market or something?” she asked, causing me to laugh.

“Just sit back and relax,” I told her, and she did just that.

I wrote down the designated address on a piece of paper so that she wouldn’t know where we were going, and gave it to the cab driver.

Now all we had to do was sit back, and wait.

…..

Mina’s POV

It didn’t take very long for us to show up at the location that Chanyeol was dragging me to, though I still had no idea where said place was.

A hand on my back was leading me the entire way so that I wouldn’t run into anything, because with a hat pulled over my eyes, I was completely incompetent at the moment. I wasn’t even lucky enough to see anything through the fibers of the hat like people sometimes were; they were too thick for that. So instead, I had to trust Chanyeol and hope he wouldn’t purposefully make me run into anything.

From what I could tell, he led me down a bunch of hallways, even bringing me into an elevator once. I wanted to say the twists and turns seemed vaguely familiar, but then that might’ve all just been in my head.

Eventually, he brought me to a stop, opening a door before him and pulling me inside.

“Can I take this off now, Chanyeol?” I asked. Oddly enough, I was only met by silence.

“Chanyeol?” I asked again, bringing my hands up to the hat and pulling it back from my eyes.

Immediately, I was assaulted by the sounds of party poppers going off by my head, and the sound of multiple voices yelling surprise simultaneously. That alone nearly gave me a heart attack. But nonetheless, I was touched. As it turns out, the familiarity of the twisting and turning hallways that led me up to this room wasn't just a hunch after all. It wasn't too hard to recognize the floor plan of my apartment building, afterall. 

Not only were the five other EXO members that were missing this afternoon here, but Eun Sae and Sumin were as well. And although them being here explained their giddiness from earlier this morning from trying to keep a secret from me, I still wasn’t sure how they were told to come here in the first place. 

But as I was getting all overwhelmed by the emotions, and hugging whoever was next to me at the moment in gratitude, I couldn’t help but spot something that was never there in the first place.

“No way…” I muttered, not believing the sight in front of me.

It was only when I moved towards it, and touched its familiar smooth texture that I knew it was really there.

My father’s piano. 

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A/N: Aaaaand the incredibly long and time consuming chapter is finally finished being written!

Hello readers! It's been a while! If you haven't read by now, the reason I was gone was because of the ton of work i had to make up from being in the hospital for a few days. I seriously haven't had any free time. 

So that's why this chapter is incredibly long, because I feel like you guys deserved it. And look, it's full of fluffy moments! And for those of you who wanted more Mina-Chanyeol moments, there ya go!

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading! Thanks for putting up with my lateness.

Let me know how you guys feel about this! In the mean time, I'm going to sleep. 

Later guise!