"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIBUM!"

The sound of the party poppers made Key, and Sunny, flinch. Mixed feelings of surprise and elation swelled in Key's chest. It was the first ever that anyone, aside from his immediate family, had ever arranged a surprise party for him. It was far from what he had imagined as a child. He imagined a fancy setting, a restaurant maybe or a function reserved for the event and a room filled with the people who loved and adored him, his family. This was far from what he imagined. Sure, the house was fancy but the living room was a mess, to say the least. Confetti everywhere, empty cups that were once filled with beer and punch lay on the floor, spilled beer on the carpet near the beer pong table, crushed chips everywhere and a half empty chip bowl tipped over near the sofa. But who was he to complain. Everything he imagined was right though, it was somewhere fancy, no matter how messy the place was; and the room was filled with the people who loved and adored him, the people whom he considered his second family. Close enough.

"Yah, did anyone give him anything earlier? Bum, did you drink or smoke anything? He looks disoriented." Jonghyun laughed as Jessica hit him on the back of the head. Apparently, Key hadn't noticed that he had spaced off for a few seconds until Jonghyun called him out. 

"Eh? Uh, I-I'm just...it's just taking me a while to take this all in." Key stuttered. "It's the first time anyone, aside from my family, has done this for me so I'm just more surprised than usual." Key smiled sheepishly. "Even though I don't look like it." everyone laughed. 

"But seriously though, I...We haven't been friends that long and you guys did this for me already so it's really...touching? I guess." Key smiled again as he looked at everyone in the room smiling back at him. 

"It's not about how long you know the person but how important you think that person is. You're important to me, to us all. Sure we've only known each other for less than a year but...I think we've all gotten closer to each other." Sooyoung suddenly spoke up, a blush creeping up her neck and cheeks. Whether it was because of the proximity of the candles to her face or because she hinted her little crush, Key would never know.

"Soo..." Key smiled brightly at her, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. It wasn't like him to cry, especially not at birthday parties. He had a tough exterior and was as soft as a marshmallow on the inside, but he wasn't going to let the others see him like that. That was probably the reason why he could never express himself to others as much as he wanted to. He was scared, but he felt that the people he was with wouldn't care whether he was tough or not. They were different.

"Are you just going to let me hold this cake the whole night?" Sooyoung spoke up again, making the others laugh.

"I-I was just gonna say that I'm surprised you haven't scarfed it down even with the candles lit." Key smirked playfully as Sooyoung suddenly glared at him. "But seriosly guys, thank you. It means a lot. I'm just not the type to, y'know make a speech and cry." he laughed.

"Just blow out the damn candles so we can get back to partying." Jonghyun shouted again, earning another smack from Jessica.

"Alright already." Key laughed as he took the cake, and ultimately Sooyoung's hands, in his and blew out the candles.

"TIME TO CUT THE CAKE!" Sooyoung pulled her hands, and the cake, away from Key and turned around to hide her rosy cheeks.

"YAH, SHIKSHIN THAT'S MY CAKE!" Key laughed as he ran after Sooyoung, following her to the kitchen.

"Hey." Key leaned on the counter as he watched Sooyoung slicing the cake, resisting the urge to back hug her and thank her again.

"Hey yourself." Sooyoung smirked as she kept her eyes on the cake, still not facing him.

"Did you do this thing?" Key asked.

"Hmm?" she hummed, swiping some icing off of the cake.

"I mean, the surprise party? And the cake?" He asked.

"Oh, no. Not really. Onew oppa called Hyoyeon unnie and told us about their plan and we all just picked everything up from there." she finally turned around after finishing her business with the cake.

"Oh. I better thank them too, huh." he looked disappointed as he turned around halfway. "But before that," he faced her again and stepped closer to her, hooking a finger under her chin to look her in the eye. She stepped back until her hit the counter and she gripped the edge of the counter for support, not expecting what would happen next.

"You have icing on your face pabo. You fail at sneak-eating you know?" he laughed as he swiped a thumb on the corner of her lips then swiping some icing off the cake for himself. "I'll talk to you later." he winked at her. Sooyoung stood as still as a statue as she watched him heading out of the kitchen. 'Icing? Really Sooyoung, really?" she smacked her forehead.

"How'd you guys know about my birthday?" Key suddenly asked from behind them. It took him a while looking for them but he finally found them in the backyard.

"Yo. Happy birthday bro." Minho patted his shoulder as Key mumbled a 'thanks'

"We have our ways." Jonghyun smirked.

"Yeah right, you guys probably stalked me and checked the school record." Key smirked back.

"Nope! We went to your house and your mom told us!" Taemin chirped as Minho hit the back of his head.

"Eomma told you? Wait, what? How'd you know where I live?" Key asked as he furrowed his brows.

"We were originally looking for your contact number 'cause you didn't go to school and we ended up with your address then when we got there your mom and us talked for a bit and the

rest is history." Onew explained.

"Okayyyy. Putting your stalking skills aside, good job on the ambush surprise party. Thanks guys." Key smiled as he opened his arms for a group hug.

"Lame." Minho laughed as Taemin gave Key a man-hug and encouraged everyone to do the same.

"Move it losers, we still have to thank Hyo noona for letting us crash the party." Jonghyun laughed as he pushed the others playfully

"Yeah, and I can hear Hyukjae hyung shouting in the living room. Time to get this party going." Onew laughed as he pushed the boys back inside the house.

"LET'S GET THIS STARTY PARTED, I MEAN PARTY STARTED! MING DJ, CRANK UP THE MUSIC!"

Sooyoung heard Eunhyuk's drunken shouts in the living room. It was around 1AM and it was already techinically the weekend. It was going to be a long  night. She could feel it. She knew they would all probably get in trouble with Hyoyeon's parents for making such a mess in the house. Thankfully they were out of town and they had the house to themselves. She shook her head and shrugged, heading out the kitchen to join her friends. 

"Happy birthday again eonnie." Sooyoung hugged Hyoyeon whom she pulled off of the dance floor 

"My birthday's over Soo, it's Kibum's birthday now." she winked at Sooyoung then returned to the dance floor to control her boyfriend who was dancing like a monkey.

"Where is the birthday boy?" Sooyoung mumbled.

"On the couch, I think he'e either really buzzed or just really tired from work. He fell asleep, and during his own party." Yunho chuckled as he passed by Sooyoung.

Sooyoung headed to the couch and found Key sprawled on the couch awkwardly. She scoffed to herself and lifted his head slowly to put his head on her lap. Pabo, you fail at eating cake, period. She wiped off some cake crumbs off of his lips and smiled to herself. Happy birthday Kibum.

A/N:

Just a short update on what happened during Key's birthday. I didn't really elaborate on what happened because it's just one of those typical house parties that happen in movies except it's less rated and more wholeseome, I guess =)) But it's definitely not the Project X kind of party, save for the music probably :)) Anyway, I noticed that this thing's been pretty happy-go-lucky. What do you guys think of a little drama? :>