From the first moment Katelyn had stepped into work that morning it had been a day different from most.  This was mostly to do with the fact that it was her birthday and these sorts of annual events transformed the office into a completely different environment.  Instead of the usual exchanges of idle chit-chat in the break room, or conversations revolving around the latest project she had been assaulted by the likes of ‘happy birthday’s, ‘what plans have you got?’ and even a miniature party on her morning tea break.

It had made the day pleasant.  In general Katelyn didn’t truly hate her job, or the office, but she was growing incredibly bored of seeing the same four walls and fake smiling faces.  All but one face, that of a certain person by the name of Park Junsu.  Junsu had started a little over four months ago after moving from South Korea and dealt with several simple tasks throughout the office.  It had become a daily ritual for them to waste a few minutes chatting as he handed out the mail.  Somewhere along the line she had fallen for the foreigner, coming to rely on his husky voice and bright smiles to get her through the day.

And that was one of the reasons why today was different.  She was fifteen minutes away from finishing for the day and so far Junsu had been the only person who hadn’t wished her happy birthday.  At first she thought he hadn’t been aware, but as the news spread throughout the office she knew there was no way he could avoid it.  He had been missing when everyone else had crowded around her cubicle and sung ‘Happy Birthday’ to her over a pile of cupcakes that one of the manager’s wives had made.

She had hoped that he had simply been busy, or out of the building at that point and that he would approach her later.  But her hopes quickly fell with the mail round, Junsu simply offering her a polite smile and her letters.  Even their usual chatter was minimal and he gave no indication that he was aware of her special day.  Special day.  The thought made her sour further as she sat staring mindlessly at her computer screen, watching the clock growing ever closer to five o’clock.

“Excuse me, Lynnie?” The sound of her nickname in accented English caught her attention and she glanced up to find Junsu standing behind her chair.  This morning she had thought the day could only get better when she spied him in his usual black dress pants and a button up white shirt.  Now however, it made her scoff inside.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Andrews wants to see you in the board room after work,” he informed her and for a moment she forgot her annoyance as curiosity overcame it.  There were no particular projects that her boss could want to talk to her about at that moment.  Looking up at Junsu he seemed to read the question in her eyes, giving a small shrug.  “I don’t know what it is about, he just told me to tell you.”

Katelyn nodded in acknowledgement and he returned it, seeming to linger on for a few seconds.  Her breath hitched in as she waited for the words to come out, but he merely his heel and marched away.  The wind flew out of her as her shoulders slumped and she began to reorganise her desk with as much force as was possible without drawing the eyes of those around her.  Obviously she had been wrong about Park Junsu.

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Almost half an hour later she sat in the empty board room as the office grew emptier, her patience even thinner than it had been earlier.  She was beginning to wonder if Mr. Andrews had forgotten about her, cursing the older man under her breath.  Pushing her chair out she rose to her feet, deciding that she would go looking for him just so she could get the hell out of there.  As she did so however, darkness enfolded her as the lights disappeared and she let out a small squeak of surprise.  Suddenly she felt like crying.

Spinning around she let out another gasp as she came face to face with Junsu, his face illuminated by a single candle that was sticking out from a small, square cake.  Katelyn’s mouth hung open in shock as words failed her with the sight, watching wide eyed as the boy stepped closer to her.

“Happy birthday Lynnie,” he grinned and she raised her hand to cover in shock.  His smile only grew at her surprise and he looked down at her cheekily as he pulled up in front of her.  “You didn’t think I had forgotten it did you?”

“Yes,” she managed weakly, deciding there was no point in lying and he let out a small chuckle, a sheepish look coming over his face.

“I’m sorry if I upset you Lynnie, it was never my intention.  I just wanted to wish you happy birthday away from everyone else,” he apologised, the look of sincerity he displayed so pure that Katelyn felt her body begin to fail one muscle at a time.  Reaching out with shaking hands she clasped at one end of the plate, holding the cake between the two of them.

“It’s ok, I... thank you,” she whispered, choking on her words and trailing off before her voice snapped completely.  She felt stupid when she thought about how worked up she had been over it all, scolding herself internally for not having any faith in the man.  Just when she thought she couldn’t possibly get any more emotional over the situation the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’ began to echo through the room and she tried to choke back the tears that were welling up.  His voice was low and husky and she wondered how her knees hadn’t buckled with the sound of it.

“Blow out the candle and make a wish,” he murmured as he finally trailed off and she followed his instructions with her eyes clamped tightly shut.  When she opened them again she couldn’t stop the pool of tears that had formed from dripping down her face, hurriedly wiping them away as Junsu turned to cut a slice for each of them.  “I hope you like chocolate cake.”

Katelyn could only manage a nod, which he luckily caught and humming a tune under his breath he handed a piece to her, wrapped neatly in a napkin.  She watched as he grabbed his own and followed his lead, breaking off a section and placing it in .  The spongy richness met her taste buds with glee and she let out a small sigh of content at it.

“Did you make this yourself?” she inquired as she swallowed the mouthful and he nodded, shadows playing across his face from the single lamp that now lit the room.  He looked proud however, holding his piece up for inspection.

“I made it last night.  You should have seen it, I dropped flour all over myself and the kitchen was a mess.  But it turned out good.  It was hard hiding it from you today too; I had to arrange the fridge very carefully,” he said and she giggled at the thought of the Korean stained white from the flour.  She quickly sobered however, when she realised that he had gone to all that trouble for her.  Once more she failed to stop the tears that welled up and this time he noticed, placing his cake on the table and stepping towards her with concern.  “Lynnie?  I’m sorry; I never meant to upset you.”

“No, it’s ok.  It’s just, it’s really lovely what you’ve done and I feel so stupid cos I was so upset and angry that you had forgotten and...” she babbled, trailing off as he closed in on her and with a tender hand wiped the tears away.  Her breath hitched in with the contact and she stood motionless, gazing up at him.  His brow was creased with worry, but as his eyes met hers it melted away, leaving his face smooth.  He inched closer and Katelyn’s stomach flipped mercilessly as he did so, exploding into a thousand butterflies as his lips pressed themselves against hers.  For a moment she couldn’t think, or breathe and then her body slammed itself into gear as she responded to his kiss.

She let out a shaky breath when he finally pulled away, glad that his arms had looped themselves around her as she felt unable to support herself without them.  She couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across her face and he mirrored her as he looked down at her, suddenly tilting his head to the side in thought.

“So what did you wish for?” he asked, quickly seeming to sober as he shook his head softly.  “No wait; it doesn’t come true if you tell.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said quietly, reaching up to cup his cheek with her hand.  “It already came true.”

[i]I couldn't tell you the words I wanted to save for this day.
You're the one I want, you're the one I need. Yeah~
I'll tell you today, "I love you, I love you."
I'll be here for you! I feel love for real![/i]