ARA’S POV

     I hadn’t meant to ignore his calls…and it wasn’t my fault that my replies took so long. I was just suddenly very busy with a few big school assignments. Plus it was Kyung-sook’s birthday that week…

     On her birthday, Kyung-sook didn’t look very happy. She sat in a chair and moped and I watched her from around the corner of a wall. Did she think she had been forgotten? I knew she didn’t like the prospect of getting older. Poor girl…has no self-confidence… I remembered when she had told me that she lived through other people’s excitement. Well, it’s time for you to live your own life… I looked back at Eun Hye and nodded to her. Then we both came out from behind the wall. I ran up behind Kyung-sook to cover her eyes and Eun Hye made quick work of setting up a little table and placing a cake, a birthday card, and a present on it.

Then I uncovered Kyung-sook’s yes. “Tada!”

She gasped and stared. “Omo! You guys! You did this for me?”

I skipped over to Eun Hye and together we posed. “Happy birthday, Kyung-sook!”

Eun Hye produced a camera and snapped a picture while I pulled the tab on one of those confetti popper things. A bright smile spread across Kyung-sook’s face and tears filed her eyes. “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome.” I replied perkily. I scooped some icing onto my finger and wiped it off on her nose. “But the fun’s not over yet. Get ready for an awesome day!”

She giggled. We lit the candles and made her make a wish before blowing them. It reminded me of the wish I had made that brought be there. I felt so lucky to have friends like them—and to think that I just had to get off my lazy instead of making an elaborate wish in the first palace… The card was that I had made. I even wrote a poem for it. She almost started crying again when she read it and she hugged me so hard I could hardly breathe. The gift was from Eun Hye. A beautiful music box with a spa gift card inside and a pack of eye contacts. Kyung-sook complained about her glasses so much, Eun Hye finally contacted her eye doctor and ordered some contacts for her.

     After that, we all went to the spa for treatments, massages, and to get our nails done together. It was the funniest girl’s day out I had ever had. Then we took her shopping. My gift to her was to buy her a whole new outfit. And we took her to the school for a make-over. In the art room, I had a camera set up on a tripod, with a background that I had painted myself for a project. We sat her down in a chair and I did her make-up. Eun Hye did her hair (and did a surprisingly good job).

Then I stood in front of her and put her glasses back on her face. Eun Hye held up a mirror. “You are very pretty, Kyung-sook. Don’t ever forget that.” I whispered in her ear as she grinned at her reflection. She simply nodded.

     Then it was picture time! I took a picture of just the birthday girl first. Then I made Eun Hye get in the picture too. Then we switched places and Eun Hye took a picture of me and Kyung-sook together. And last, I set the timer on the camera and we all took a group picture together. After that, it was just silly messing around with the camera until we were kicked out of the art room by the teacher who needed it for a class.

     As a thank you for “the best day ever” Kyung-sook took us out for dinner. We protested at first, but she insisted, saying that she wanted to do something for someone else on her birthday because it would make her happy. We thought that was very noble of her, so we let her take us to a restaurant and we had a great time, just the three of us. We ate lots of good food. We sat and joked and laughed a lot. All dressed up with our make-up, hair, and nails done—we got an awful lot of looks from boys. In any normal situation, I would have felt flattered. But it only made me think of Junsu, so I felt awkward and slightly sad. It like I had seen him in forever. I knew he was unavoidably busy and it wasn’t his fault, but still…

     I watched Kyung-sook’s sleeping face. She was so happy today. It made me feel good to know that she felt beautiful. She really was a wonderful, very sweet—albeit excessively talkative girl. She made me smile and laugh and I wondered if she knew how much she meant to me.

“Eun Hye, I’m so lucky to have you guys.” I said into the dark just before I fell asleep, knowing she was still awake too.

She didn’t reply, but somehow I knew she was smiling.

     I sighed as I leaned against the bathroom wall, my phone to my ear.

“He’s still not picking up?” Eun Hye asked me from behind.

I nodded and pulled my phone down from my ear. “What if something happened to him?”

She grinned at me sympathetically, laying a hand on my hand. “I’m sure he’s ok, Ara.” She assured me.

I nodded again and looked down. “What if he’s ignoring me? On purpose.”

Eun Hye tilted her head. “Now why would he do that?”

I looked up at her. “Maybe he’s mad because I haven’t really been answering his calls either.”

She gave me a look. “Or, maybe he’s not answering for the same reasons that you didn’t answer.”

I nodded a third time. “Ya, you’re probably right. He’s probably just very busy.” And I snapped my phone shut.

What I didn’t know what he was missing me just as much as I was missing him. And he had simply forgotten his phone on a table.

Kyung-sook bounced behind me. “Cheer up! He’ll call you back!” Then she turned back to the mirror to try another attempt at putting in her contacts as Eun Hye instructed her.

I tried very hard to cheer up…and then suddenly I got an idea. Maybe it wouldn’t work, but I had to try.