Daehyun and Youngjae were in trouble. They had big plans but the two of them were only so big themselves. “I’ll hold you while you climb,” Daehyun decided.

            “But I’m scared of heights,” Youngjae squeaked.

            The countertop was indeed a faraway destination. They looked around. After much huffing and puffing and yelling on Youngjae’s part, they had managed to push a chair over and climbed on top. Now, the next step seemed too daunting. They were out of strength.

            “Why did we decide to do this?”

            “Because she’s special, and you know it.” Daehyun wiped his brow and plopped on the seat of the chair. “I hate being tiny.”

            The two of them gazed up and thought of ways to get to the countertop. Youngjae shuddered to think of what they had to do once they had crossed this obstacle. “Why don’t we just make her a mini cake?”

            “Because that’ll be gone in one bite.”

            “You’ll know,” Youngjae muttered, rolling his eyes. “You always eat everything in one bite.”

            Daehyun pretended not to hear and then saw something tiny scuttle across the room towards them. “Jilly!” he waved his arms. “Help us!” he squeaked.

            She looked up, holding paper and a pen in her arms. “What are you doing up there?”

            “We’re trying to make a surprise birthday cake!” Youngjae shouted down. “But we need to get on the counter.”

            Jilly sat down and stared at them. “How about you just climb on the drawers? How will you get the cake into the oven?”

            “We haven’t thought that far,” Daehyun said, irritated. He took off on a run and leapt onto the knob, hanging on precariously. He swung his legs up and held on tightly, grunting as he tried to pull himself up. He did and quickly latched onto the next knob.

            “Come on, Youngjae!” he called down. “I’m almost there!”

            Youngjae took a deep breath and followed suit. He climbed up agilely and soon the two of them were sitting on the counter. Jilly gave them a thumbs up before plopping down and laying on her stomach as she started to write.

            Youngjae let out a Tarzan-like yell and ran at the cupboard. He grabbed at it and pulled it open. “Here’s the powder and the baking soda. You do the mixing, I’ll tell you the directions. Let’s start.”

            Daehyun glowered but in his head he chanted, “It’s for her, it’s for her,” and so he listened.

            “Put in the powder and then add in two eggs. Make sure you don’t get any shells into it. If she even eats one bite of shell, you’ll be dead. Then use the mixer to mix well.”

            Daehyun muttered things he wanted to do with the mixer under his breath but did as he was told. A few circles around the bowl later, he was panting. “H-help me. I cannot keep m-mixing.”

            Youngjae glanced over and sighed deeply. “When you want things done properly, do it yourself.”

            But after running a few circles himself, he was out of breath too. “Okay, I admit, that was hard,” he said to a very smug Daehyun.

            The two of them then continued to work together properly. “One, two, three!” The two of them heaved the pan into the cake mold, yelling as the pain in their arms nearly caused them to give way.

            When at last, all the mix was poured into the mold, they sat down, huffing. “Next step is to put it in the oven. Do you want to do it?” Youngjae looked at Daehyun.

            “I don’t think so. I’m probably going to drop it.”

            Youngjae glanced at the clock. “Hurry! She’s coming back soon!” The urgency brought them to their feet and they carefully brought the cake down one step and then another to see that Jilly had helped them open the oven. “Oh thank goodness,” Youngjae breathed. That was one step done.    

            They put it into the oven and the timer. Daehyun leaned against the oven, breathing heavily. “Finally. We’re finished.”

            They stayed like that for a while until suddenly, Youngjae jumped up. “The icing!”

            Daehyun groaned. “I have no more energy.”

            Jilly shook her head as she rolled up the scroll she was writing. “You guys are such idiots. The icing’s already done. Daehyun, you made it when you were watching Youngjae mix.”

            “I did?” Daehyun looked confused and then chagrined. “I poured that into the cake too.”

            The oven went off, seeming to intone their doom. The three of them pulled on the oven handle and carefully slid on heavy gloves to take the cake out. Just as they placed the cake onto the counter, the birthday girl walked in.

            She saw the three of them, red-faced, and leaning against the cake.

            Youngjae opened one of his eyes and coughed. “Happy birthday!” he squeaked, jumping to his feet and she grinned.

            “Sorry the cake’s not finished,” Daehyun apologized.

            She smiled and picked them all up in the palm of her hand. “Is it for me?”

            When they nodded, she squeezed each of their cheeks. “Thank you.”

Happy Birthday waffyeols unnie