In the car I texted Sungyeol to let him know we were on our way home.

“Good, everything is complete and he doesn’t know a thing, right?”

“I don’t think he has a clue.”

“Just come in through the front door and we’ll yell out ‘surprise’ when you walk in. Make sure he comes in first though.”

“I’ll do that. See you in 20 minutes.”

“Who are you texting”, Sunggyu asked me.

Should I lie to him? If I tell him I was messaging Sungyeol, he’ll ask why and I can’t exactly tell him why without lying. Even so, he’ll get jealous if I even mention one of s’ names.

“Uh—my friend from back home.” Man, I felt bad about lying to him. I guess I can always tell him later after the surprise party is over.

“What’s her name?”

“Her name? It’s Rebecca, why?”

“Oh, does she like Kpop too?”

“Yeah—although she likes different groups than I do.”

“Does she like us?”

“I’m not sure she even knows who Infinite is, to be honest. She likes Big Bang and SHINee.”

“Tell her she’s missing out then”, he said with a smirk.

“I’ll be sure to do that”, I replied, chuckling.

“It’s still a bummer that none of my members were even nice enough to remember my birthday. I’m their leader after all! I remember their birthdays!”

“I’m sure they remembered it, maybe they’ll wish you a happy birthday when we get home. They haven’t really seen you much all day.”

“There is such a thing as a text message.”

“But maybe they wanted to tell you in person.”

I should better stop talking before I say anything too revealing.

Sunggyu didn’t say anything else, so maybe he’ll just drop the whole subject.

We arrived back at the mansion around 9:30 and everything in the house was dark.

“Are you kidding me?! They’re already asleep?”

“I guess they had a hard day?”

Sunggyu just rolled his eyes. “Sometimes being the leader ”, he mumbled, getting out of the car.

I walked behind him, letting him open the door first.

As soon as the door opened, the lights and the 12 boys popped out of their hiding places and yelled “SURPRISE!!”

Sunggyu just stood there, frozen in place. I smiled secretly behind him.

“Happy birthday, hyung”, Woohyun said, coming up and putting an arm around his leader.

“I thought—

“What, you thought we’d forget your birthday? You should’ve known we were planning something.”

Sunggyu then turned around and looked at me. “Did you know about this?”

Giggling I said, “Yes, of course. I was in on everything.”

“And we have Lee Sungyeol to thank for it all”, Hoya announced.

“Sungyeol-ah, you came up with this whole thing?”

Sungyeol nodded shyly. “Yes, but everyone helped me with it.”

“You only turn 25 once, hyung”, Dongwoo exclaimed.

“I don’t know what to say, you guys. Thank you.”

“Time to blow out your birthday candles”, Sungjong yelled happily as Myungsoo came out with the cake.

The boys started singing “Happy Birthday” and I joined in.

I knew by the end of the song or by the time Sunggyu blew out his candles, someone was going to have cake all over their face and it certainly wasn’t going to be me.

I could tell just by the way the members looked at each other, giving one another secretive eye signals.

Sunggyu blew out his candles with the help of a few of the other boys and the next few seconds were a blur.

Next thing I knew, Sunggyu had cake in his hair, Hoya had some on his hand, and I was wearing most of it on my dress.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry Morgan”, Hoya exclaimed, going to wipe some of it off, but realizing that the majority of it was on my chest. “Uh, let me go get you some napkins”, he said quickly, running to the kitchen.

“Well I can honestly say I saw this coming”, I joked, chuckling. “Sunggyu, do you want a hug?”

He shook his head “No, no I’m good.”

“Anyone else want a hug”, I offered, reaching my arms out.

They all backed away from me.

“Oh come on, any other time you guys would be running into my arms. What’s the problem now?” Then I turned to Woohyun. “Woohyun looks like he wants a hug, don’t you?”

“Yeah sure why not”, he said bringing me into his arms.

I made sure to transfer as much cake as possible onto his clothes.

“Gee, thanks Morgan”, he whined, looking down at his shirt.

“Blame Lee Howon.”

Speaking of the devil, he finally came back in with a handful of napkins, handing them to me.

“Thanks”, I said, wiping what I could from my dress.

“Can you give me some”, Sunggyu asked.

“Here, let me get that for you”, I replied, using the leftover napkins to wipe the icing out of Sunggyu’s hair.

“Well, we don’t have cake to eat now, thanks to Hoya”, Sungyeol complained, glaring at him.

“You have to admit, it was funny”, Hoya retorted.

“I guess the joke is on me then”, I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

“I just want to thank everyone again for doing this for me. It means a lot, really. I’ve had such a wonderful day and I am so glad to have you guys by my side”, Sunggyu confessed. To s, he said, “Let’s continue to make music our fans will enjoy and I will promise to always lead you in the best way.”

To Teen Top, he said, “Let’s always have a good relationship and hopefully we can do more collaborations in the future.”

And lastly to me, he said, “I want to thank you Morgan for showing how much you care for me and everyone else today.”

He looked like he was going to say more, but just smiled genuinely.

“It’s getting late. I think I’m going to take a shower and go to bed”, I said.

The boys nodded and started to clean up the room.

As I started to walk up the stairs, I felt a pair of eyes watching me.

I ignored it and continued until I made it to my bedroom. I got a pair of clean pajama pants and an old t-shirt out along with undergarments and just as I opened my door, I saw Sunggyu standing behind it.

“Oh, I thought you were downstairs?”

“I was, but I had more I needed to tell you that I couldn’t say with everyone listening.”

“Why, would they have gotten jealous”, I questioned, chuckling.

He grinned. “Yes, probably. Morgan, what I really wanted to say was, that kiss tonight—it was incredible, even though it didn’t seem like much.”

“Well I don’t have much experience, so thank you.”

“I didn’t mean just the kiss itself, I meant the feeling behind it.”

“And what exactly did you feel?”

“If I’m honest with you, will you promise me you won’t find me weird?”

“I already find you weird, Sunggyu. I don’t think it’s possible for you to become any weirder”, I teased, laughing hysterically.

“Oh, very funny”, he mocked, trying to hide a smile. “I’m being serious, Morgan.”

Composing myself, I answered, “No, of course I wouldn’t find you weird.”

“Being truthful, I felt a spark.”

“Really, you felt a spark?”

“It sounds strange and I never believed it before, but now, it’s like this entirely new feeling.”

“What exactly did this spark feel like?”

“I don’t know. It just felt like a jolt went through my brain.”

“Ouch, that sounds kind of painful.”

“Okay, maybe that was the wrong way to put it. It was more like a wave of calm, but at the same time, it felt like an adrenaline rush.”

I kind of felt bad, but the “spark” Sunggyu was talking about, I didn’t feel. Given, I felt strongly for him, and that kiss was, like he said, incredible, but I just didn’t feel what he did.

“Judging by your expression, I guess you didn’t experience the same thing I did, did you?”

I bit my lip, afraid to answer him. “Unfortunately, no. I’m sorry, Sunggyu. I really want to say I did, because I really, really like you. I don’t know if maybe it’s because I’m still undecided about who to choose, plus the fact that I still have members I haven’t even gone out with yet, so please don’t get discouraged about it.”

Without any sort of warning, Sunggyu pressed his lips firmly to mine, and even though it was sudden, a part of my brain instantly responded. He pulled away a few moments later.

“Still nothing”, he asked.

I was flushed for one thing and I knew he could tell I was breathless just from less than a minute of kissing.

“Sunggyu, you shouldn’t be doing that with the others around. You know how jealous everyone gets.”

“By everyone, you mostly mean Sungyeol. I feel bad that he gets so bitter over us kissing you, but he has to remember too that this is still a competition and he hasn’t won your heart yet, or has he?”

“Let’s just say, he’s in the running.”

Sunggyu smirked. “That’s not very comforting, but I’ll take it, as long as I’m in the running too.”

“A seductress never reveals her secrets”, I told him, winking.

“So you’re a seductress now?”

“Well, considering I’ve got 13 boys falling for me, that’s a nicer word than calling myself a .”

“Hey, don’t ever call yourself that”, he said, my cheek with his thumb. “You’re far from it. Besides, none of us are sleeping with you. We’re just going on harmless little dates and enjoying each other’s company, that’s all.”

I smiled sympathetically. “If you say so. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get a shower. The cake is starting to harden to my dress.”

“I’d better get a shower too. I’m not too sure my stylist would approve of icing being used to style my hair.”

“We’ll see each other tomorrow morning.”

“Good night, Morgan. Please sleep well.”

“I will, Sunggyu. Good night.”

I watched him walk down the hall and disappear around a corner. Smiling to myself, I went across the hall to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

The warm water was nice and relaxing. Although, even as comforting as it was, I still felt bad for Sunggyu. He looked so disappointed when I told him I didn’t feel the same. He was such a wonderful guy and I could tell he really had a good heart, but I knew it was better for me not to lie to him about my feelings.

After all, I still had 6 dates to go on until I could make my final decision. I think I would stick around here longer because I’ve only been here for two weeks and I really don’t want to leave yet, especially because the boys have been so hospitable towards me.

“I wonder who I’m going to pick tomorrow”, I thought to myself as I got out of the shower, putting my clothes on after I had drie