“SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!”

Hyukjae stood there, dumbfounded, with a huge, gummy grin gracing his features.

“Well, don’t just stand there!” someone shouted. “Let’s get this party started!”

Many people rushed towards Hyukie to congratulate him and a lot of others headed to the kitchen for food. Henry started the music, and the party was soon underway. The dorm filled with chatter, food, and laughter, and it made my heart swell to see my brother having such a good time. I was grazing at the snack table when a stern voice called,” Lee Ah Ri.” I turned quickly to see the birthday boy himself standing there with his arms crossed.

“Did you do all of this just for little ole me?” he enquired. I nodded, grinning. He then pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, spinning me around. “Thank you, Ari, for making this one of the best birthdays ever.”

“Well, don’t get too ahead of yourself there, oppa. It’s not over yet!” I gave him a mysterious smile, and pulled away, walking instead over to Henry. I whispered something to him, and he stopped the music. With Heechul’s help, I finally got the attention of the crowd. (We all know he draws attention.)

“Thanks to all of you for coming and celebrating Hyukjae’s birthday with us!” I said, and everyone erupted with cheers. “I know it means a lot to us and him as well. Right now we are going to start our special birthday presentations for him, so oppa, if you could come sit right here in front.” Room was made for him on the couch. I motioned to my “back-up dancers” to come up, and they got in position. “We have prepared a special medley for you all today, and I hope you enjoy it!” My crew consisted of Key, U-KISS’s Kevin, MBLAQ’s Joon, and Sungmin. Somehow we had found time in all of our busy schedules to put together a few girl group dances. Each person had a song that they were featured in, and mine would be the last song.

The opening notes of  Chu~ played, and Key did his thing as only he can, The music then transitioned to Miss A’s Bad Girl Good Girl, and Kevin totally owned his section. Joon danced his part of I Am The Best, and Sungmin worked his aegyo with KARA’s Mister. Then came the grand finale with me front and center, dancing SNSD’s Genie. I may not be as epic of a dancer as Hyukjae, but I’m still fairly coordinated. As I danced, I could only hope that I was doing the song justice, especially in front of some of the original performers of the song. All I could do was keep smiling…and not mess up. We hit our final pose, and the room applauded loudly, Hyukie the loudest of all. He got up and hugged us all, saying what a great job we did.

“Tell me why you didn’t become a trainee with me?” he chuckled. I just rolled my eyes, also smiling. Others at the party prepared different acts, some comedic, others touching, some just downright stupid, but it was enjoyed by all.

The night was over too soon, and people started leaving. I could tell Hyukjae had a good time; that gummy grin had not left his face the entire night. The boys started to drift off to bed also. They had busy schedules tomorrow, and I had promised that I had time to clean up the dorm in the morning. Before he headed off too, I caught Hyukie and gave him my present, neatly wrapped in silvery paper.

“You didn’t need to give me anything!” he protested. “The party was plenty enough!”

“Just open it!” I whined. He did so, revealing….a plain brown box all taped up. “Oh,” I snickered a little, “I forgot to tell you to grab a pair of scissors.”

Hyukjae disappeared into the kitchen, and came back momentarily with the required tool. Carefully he broke the seal on the shiny tape and tore open the box. It was filled, to his amazement, with many silvery, small, identically wrapped objects. His smile came on stronger after each parcel he opened. A few of the items I included were his favorite strawberry milk, a small silver earring adorned with a monkey, some bath products like shampoo, conditioner, etc, also strawberry-flavored, and a dance mix CD I made with some cool songs I discovered while in the States.

“Thank you so much, Ari-ah!” He engulfed me in a hug.  I smiled, realizing how much I’ve really missed my brother and seeing him every day. It reminded me of when I first moved to New York. I didn’t know anyone, the language was not my mother tongue, and the city was huge. I felt so alone. It wasn’t until Joanna and I became roomies before I began to break out of my shell and really enjoy my life in the city. I still called my parents every so often to check in with them and update them with all that was going on. I still watched my brother online doing what he loved, but I found myself with less and less time and he was always busy. It wasn’t until I returned to Korea about a month ago that I spoke to him again, and a little while after, he convinced me to take this job. I was reluctant at first, but now I’m grateful; our relationship has grown stronger and better than ever.

After he pulled away, I shooed him off to bed. He had a busy schedule the next day, and I, for one, did not want to have to deal with a sleepy Hyukjae in the morning. I strolled to my room and collapsed on the bed, recalling the day’s events. It had been a pretty good day, I decided.

A/N: Hello beautiful readers! Thanks for sticking with me for so long! I apologize for not updating. School  and musical rehearsals and a whole bunch of other stuff keep getting in the way, and having writer's block doesn't help either. I can't promise when the next update will be since I'm still not entirely sure where I want the story to go, but I do know this: Ari's friend Joanna will be making a reappearance in the next chapter! Thanks for subscribing, and don't be afraid to leave me comments or suggestions. I'm always open to them! They make me smile. Happy reading!

ps. If any of you have a tumblr, you can follow me at justalittlemusicobsessed.tumblr.com. It's mostly Super Junior stuff, various kpop, and funny meme things. Send me a message if you follow me, and I'll follow back! (: