The friends clinked their glasses for a toast. Min Hyuk and Woori brought in some red wine and white wine for Shin Hye's birthday, and they all enjoyed the liquor along with some food that Jung Shin cooked for Shin Hye.

"Erm... so, what will Hyung give Shin Hye today, I wonder?" Jong Hyun voiced out as he rubbed his hands.

"Molla," Min Hyuk replied as they watched Yong Hwa hand Shin Hye a white large paper bag. 

"Awww, gomawo," Shin Hye crooned as she held the handle of the bag. She dug into the bag and pulled out a novel by a certain Eric Lai Kwan. 

"I found it in Singapore, and thought you might like it," Yong Hwa sheepishly told her, remembering Shin Hye's fondness for cyber thriller books.

Shin Hye stood up to hug her bestie, who blushed at the act. Everyone teased them again, making Shin Hye stop them. Yong Hwa's face took a sullen turn to see what his bestie had done. He felt that it's either, Shin Hye might not feel the same way, or she might not want them to know. Anyway, after the hug, the friends continued with their celebration. Yong Hwa presented an extravagantly decorated pink cake filled with flower icing, beads, wafter looking like laces, and some sparkling edible glitters. Shin Hye gushed to see such a cute cake, and Jung Shin pointed out that only a man in love will give such prestigious gifts.

"Wae? Can I not give such kind of gifts to my bestfriend?" Yong Hwa shot back at him.

"Hee heee," Jung Shin grinned impishly.

"Well, because Hyung denies that he loves Shin Hye, I will show my love for her instead," Jong Hyun joked as he presented the birthday girl with a white paper bag. "Yeogi."

Shin Hye frowned at him when he winked, and she took the bag. Jong Hyun laughed heartily because Shin Hye was fooled by his joke.

"Of course, Hyung, I love Shin Hye as a friend, right, Hyukkie?" Jong Hyun told Yong Hwa before asking Min Hyuk for confirmation.

"Geurae!" Min Hyuk confidently answered. "I love Shin Hye too, just as Woori also loves her, ne, jagiya?"

"Ne~" Woori replied before handing out two white paper bags to the birthday girl.

"What's up with white paper bags?" Shin Hye asked them.

"Does it matter?" Woori asked before looking at Yong Hwa.

"Mianhande, Shin Hye-reul wihan seonmuri eopseo~" Jung Shin apologized that he did not have a gift for Shin Hye.

Everyone watched him as he grabbed his fat wallet, and brought out a fat wad of cash. Then, he arrogantly counted the money in front of Jong Hyun, who they teased for not knowing how to count his own money.

"Wow! Are you for real????" Shin Hye asked in disbelief.

"Geurae!" Jung Shin said as he handed her the money. 

"Waa, gomawo~~" Shin Hye said as she took the cash.

She began unpacking the other gifts, and found that she received a Squirtle stuffed toy from Woori, a Pikachu stuffed toy from Jong Hyun, and a Doraemon stuffed toy from Min Hyuk.

"Why are all of these stuffed toys?" she asked, trying to suppress a laughter.

"So that Hyung's Rilakkuma won't be lonely," Min Hyuk rationalized.

****

Finally, at the end of the day, when the other friends went home, Yong Hwa stayed behind. But Shin Hye noticed that her bestie seemed anxious, so she asked.

"Wae geurae?"

Yong Hwa was flustered so he told her he wanted to tell her something.

"Mwoya?" she asked him.

The two of them got inside the pad, and sat on the couch. Shin Hye looked into his eyes, trying to decipher and make him look at her.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?" she asked him in concern.

Yong Hwa mustered all his strength and took a deep breath. Then, slowly but surely, he looked at her and held he hand.

"Neol johahae," he confessed.

It felt good that he had finally confessed his feeling for her. And he waited.

*PAK!!!!

Yong Hwa held his cheek. Shin Hye had slapped him, and he looked into her angry eyes.

"Mwo? Nal johahae?????" she asked, irate. "How could you do this to me?"

Yong Hwa was tongue-tied, but he managed to call out her name. And he held her by the wrists.

"Wait.. I..."

"No more explanation, Yong Hwa!" Shin Hye screamed. "How can you do this to your own best friend? How can you throw away our friendship like that, huh??"

No matter how Yong Hwa tried to grip her wrists, she would wriggle away, and Yong Hwa shed tears. He had been rejected, his heart rejected.

"Ga!" Shin Hye ordered him, pointing at the door. "I will never look at you as my best friend again!"

"Sh... Shin Hye..."

Shin Hye stood up and went to her room, and he followed suit. But it turned out that Shin Hye took hold of the Rilakkuma and the Singaporean novel, and some of the random things he had given her, and she threw them in front of him.

"Take them all home!" she ordered.

Yong Hwa tried to pull her for a hug, but Shin Hye pushed him away. 

"You betrayed me and my trust, Yong Hwa..." she shouted as she pointed at him. "Take all of these and leave!"

Yong Hwa obligingly took the things that Shin Hye threw at him, and he darted out of the house immediately. Shin Hye shut her eyes in anger as she let hot tears fall of her eyes. And as for Yong Hwa, he walked straight out without even greeting the nearby ajummas goodbye. The ajummas, in effect, gossiped among themselves.

****

Shin Hye went back to her room to look for more stuff that Yong Hwa had given her. He had a lot in her room, and she needed to get rid of them all. Meanwhile, she took her phone and dialed Woori's number. 

"Yeoboseyo?" Shin Hye heard Woori's voice over the next line.

****

Yong Hwa bothered Jong Hyun and Jung Shin into accompanying him for a soju spree. The Lee guys looked at each other thoughtfully before looking at their friend in pity. Yong Hwa gulped down shot glass after shot glass of soju before smirking.

"Ya, is it bad to fall in love with your best friend?" Yong Hwa asked them.

Jong Hyun and Jung Shin fumed in thought. It was not a sin to love a friend but... it was complicated.

****

What will Jong Hyun and Jung Shin tell him? And as for Shin Hye, what will Min Hyuk and Woori do?

~~~~