"Shin Hye...Our beautiful dongseang...Happy Birthday!"

"One...two...three..."  

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday dear Shin Hye.

Happy Birthday to you.

Shin Hye was being serenaded by a soulful, harmonious rendition of Happy Birthday by some of the best looking idols in Korea.

Then, they sang it again in rock version, complete with air guitars,  headbanding, and jumping around.  Her Oppas were completely insane dorks.  She loved it. Shin Hye clapped and laughed with the rest of the crowd.

When they were done, they gathered around her for a group hug.

"Yah...I can't breathe."  Shin Hye squeaked.  The Oppas were extra affectionate today. How much alcohol had already been consumed, she wondered.

Shin Hye was laughing as she was passed on from one to the next for individual hugs and good wishes.  She was so happy to see all of them.  She missed hanging out with them.  They were the wildest, insanely fun group of guys and she adored them. And truth be told, what girl wouldn't love to have the love and attention of all these gorgeous idols.

"Remember that concert we went to in Japan?  SMAP.  Ringo tore his pants right there in front of Shin Hye."

"Shin Hye shreiked like a little girl and I had to cover her eyes cuz she forgot.  She's not as innocent as she acts."  Everyone started laughing.

"That reminds me of  that time that Shin Hye and I snuck into the "artsy" cinema in Tokyo.  It turned out to be gay pride day. Shin Hye was disguised as a guy but they only hit on me.  Shin Hye was so jealous, she started hitting on some guy.  The guy was actually a girl."

"You got an eyeful, didn't you Shin Hye?" 

"Ah that reminded me of that time that Shin Hye met us in America.  We went to Comicon in cosplay."

"I was Sailor Moon.  JunSu decided to be Wolverine. Shin Hye was Superman."

"I wanted to wear a cape." Shin Hye injected.

"Oh is that the cape that Yong Hwa borrowed for the snowboarding trip.  He was a major fail trying to Shaun White it, especially with that cape."

They were having a disjointed walk down memory lane.  Each person was trying to top the other's story.

After the brief introduction the the group, Min Ho couldn't tell who was in which group.  He just knew they were all idols.  They launched into this trip down memory lane.  They had completely shut him out. Min Ho was pretty sure that Shin Hye had forgotten that he was here.

Min Ho felt like an outsider.  They were doing it deliberately, not that Shin Hye noticed.  She was in her own little world.  The young queen surrounded by her court.  They adored her and she clearly felt the same about them.

They had a history. A past, full of fun adventures that he would never have with her.

The beginning of the new year was the rush of CFs and photoshoots for the both of them.  Shin Hye had her movie premeire and promotional activities as well. It was a couple of months before they could meet each other's close friends.  Min Ho was eager to show Shin Hye off to his friends.

They had some of his close friends and their significant others over for dinner last week.   She already knew Bum, Geun Young, and Il Woo, and a couple of his other celeb friends, having worked with each one at one time in the past.  It was natural for them to talk shop and by the end of the night, they were all fast friends.

Jung Mo and his wife Mi Na were starstruck by Shin Hye.  They were barely able to say anything. Shin Hye had them eating out of her hands.  They were sharing pictures and telling her stories of their daughter and her misadventures.

Seung Ho and another one of his high school friend,  were tripping over their tongues trying to have a conversation with Shin Hye.  They were like high school boys trying to chat up an gorgeous older woman.  Whatever they said came out all wrong.  He'd never seen grown men blush that often in one night.

Shin Hye had no problems winning his friends over with her easygoing style and good nature. They all loved her by the end of the night.

Today was a belated birthday party for Shin Hye since she had been too busy to celebrate it on her birthday. They were at Me Su's home.  He was meeting all of Shin Hye's close friends.

He was nervous about meeting her Oppas.  He started developing inferiority complex to the idols after spending time with Shin Hye's family.

Meeting Shin Hye's brother Shin Won opened up another side of Shin Hye that he didn't know about. Shin Hye wasn't the only member who was musically inclined.  Her whole family was musically inclined, everyone played at least one musical instrument.  All her idol friends were multi-talented as well.  In addition to singing and dancing and acting, they were also talented songwriters and producers. They could all play various instruments like Shin Hye.  They had a lot in common. All her idol friends were well known to her parents and her brother.  They were like an extended family.

The idols had more in common with her than he did.  He felt out of place before even meeting them. Now after meeting them, he felt even more on the outside.

Min Ho had enough.  He wandered away.

 ``````````````````````````````````````````

"Makes you feel like an outsider, huh?"  

Min Ho looked at the familiar face.  He had met Song Joong Ki once through Bum.

Min Ho nodded.

"They're a little possessive, but they are good guys when you get to know them."

"Are you in?"  Min Ho asked.

"No.  They don't like pretty boy actors."  Joong Ki smiled. "We're in another subgroup of Shin Hye's friends.  They tolerate us."

Min Ho frowned. That doesn't sound promising.

"Hey, what are you telling him to making that pretty face frown.  You'll give him wrinkles."  Kim Hyun Joong aka  Kim Woo Bin asked Joong Ki.  He came to rescue Min Ho from Joong Ki's blunt style.

"Good to see you, hyung."  He clasped Min Ho's hand for a manly handshake.  "Long time, no see."

It was strange but their paths never crossed after The Heirs.  It must be the age difference.  But, Hyun Joong and Shin Hye remained friends all these years.

"It's good to see you Hyun Joong."  Min Ho said sincerely. 

"So you finally got the girl, huh, Kim Tan?"  Hyun Joong teased.

They slipped back into long forgotten camaraderie.

 ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

"That's enough.  Why are you like this?  I know you guys care for me and act as my black knights and I appreciate it, but this is going too far."  Shin Hye had had enough.  It started off as a fun night, reminiscing about the past, especially since she had been so busy this last year with her activities and her relationship with Min Ho that she hadn't been able to see her friends much.  But at some point, it became a game of one upmanship deliberately making Min Ho an outsider. When he had enough, he walked off.  Time for her to talk to the Oppas.

"I'm disappointed in you all.  I introduce you to the guy that I like and you didn't even give him a chance.  You were rude. That's unlike you all." These were her Oppas. She knew they were protective of her.  She's always been thankful for them and their friendship and support.  

When she bonded with Geun Suk, Hong Ki, and Yong Hwa, on the set of You're Beautiful, that was one of the happiest times of her life.  They became her best friends. Not only were they her own age, but took her under their wings and introduced her to whole new world.  This new world consisted of talented and accomplished musicians.

They all became her friends.  They too, took her under their wings and brought her to the inner world of the music industry.  They nurtured her love of music, teaching her, coaching her, introducing her to novel ideas.  They treated her like one of the guys.

They also supported her unconditionally.  They didn't ask questions, but they were always quick to react.  They would always be her knights supporting her from behind.

She loved them like they were her own brothers.  She knew everyone's parents and they knew her parents.  They became a tight knit group.  But they were always welcoming of newcomers.

It became a habit of hers to introduce someone she was intrested in to them, it was like a test.  If he didn't get the approval of the Oppas, she had to reconsider. Whoever she dated had to be able to get along with her friends.  Her friends, male and female, were important to her. They were her extended family.

She was disappointed in their treatment of Min Ho.  They didn't even give him a chance.  She would have understood if they tried to engage him but it didn't work out because they had nothing in common. But to all out ig