Maliha paced around the room, trying to figure out a way to pull everything together. She glanced at the calendar, and immediately regretted it. Today was October thirteenth. That gave her exactly two days to pull everything together. It was all supposed to be top secret, but then he decides to come home! ARGH. Don’t get her wrong, she is completely excited to see him, but why today of all days?

                She contemplated rushing to the airport and throwing him off. She needed time. And with this fish here, time was not something she was getting. Breathe Maliha, breathe, she ordered herself. Trying to compose herself, she called Haeliha’s number one fan.

                “Hey, is it possible for you to detour Donghae somehow? I need to make sure the finishing touches are put up.”

                Her friend’s voice came over the phone, just as panicked as she was. “What? He’s coming? He’s here? But we told him to come on the fifteenth, why is he here so early? I’m going to have to yell at Hyuk. He was supposed to detain him. Never mind, I’ll go pick those two up and think of something.”

                Maliha thanked her and opened her laptop. All the plans for the party were slowly being put together. She saw the various decorations being put up, and monitored to see if the mass invitations were going out. Thank goodness for ELFs. Their funding and motivation was what was allowing her to put together this large scale celebration of Donghae’s birthday.

                She bit her lips and absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. That was another part of his surprise. And she wasn’t sure how he would handle it. But she pushed that thought into the back of her mind and continued to rapidly click away at the monitors. Since she wasn’t able to be at the scene of the Great Hall, she requested cameras be put up so she could see what decorations were going where and how things would look.

                Her phone bleeped and she lunged to look. YA, He left! He actually ditched Hyuk at the airport and is going home now! He should be there any minute. She could sense the frantic urgent in her typing when she saw the typos. He’s coming here????

                Sure enough the moment she deleted the text, the doorbell rang from downstairs. She waited, hoping it would be someone else. Then her mother’s voice rang out. “Donghae! I didn’t know you were coming now. Ahem, Maliha! Donghae’s here! Code blue?” Maliha laughed. Her mother had obviously forgotten the code they had set up in case of emergencies. For Donghae, it was Code Tanked.

                “Hello, omoni! I’m here to see you guys! Since it’s my birthday, I had requested I get a few days off rather than come at the last minute. This way I can spend more time with my family. The sad part is my brother and mother decided to take a vacation and wouldn’t be here.”

                “Ahh, you’re welcome anytime. But, ah, let me get Maliha.” She stormed up the stairs to find that her daughter was already rising to walk out.

                “Aish! What happened? He wasn’t supposed to be here! Why, what do we do? The papers are all downstairs, and I was working on the catering. What do we do?” her mother asked.

                Maliha heard “papers” and “downstairs” before flying down. When she got down, she saw Donghae walking over to the coffee table and curiously pick up a folder. Putting on an extra burst of speed, she slammed herself into him. The folder flew to the ground, and her mother stealthily picked it up and ran upstairs with the plans.

                “Oomph, yay Donghae! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I didn’t plan anything,” she whined.

                He smiled. “That’s the point. I wanted to surprise you!”

                She looked up at him and smiled. “But, surprises are no good. Especially when I haven’t seen you in a while. I don’t want to leave a bad impression. Aish, you should eat something. Then, we have to spend the whole entire day outside, together. No staying in the house.” Where all the planning will take place, she thought.

                He gave her a strange look. “Sure, do you want to go out and eat? Name me a really good place in Brooklyn where we could eat.”

                She thought frantically. The planners would be coming here, and the party was in Manhattan. No, no, no. She needed Donghae out of the vicinity. “How about we go into Queens? There’s a huge Korean town where we could eat whatever you want to eat.”

                Donghae laughed. “Okay, take me there.” Maliha nodded and ran up the stairs. She dialed her friend. “You guys, is it possible for you to take care of the plans while I distract Donghae?”

                Her coconspirator giggled. “Sure, have fun! Don’t worry. I have everything under control. By the time you come back, all we need to do tomorrow is visit the site and see that it is all finished.” Maliha thanked her before walking back down. Donghae was now sniffing around in the kitchen. Her mother was pale and threw her daughter a horrified look.

                “Hey, why are there recipes for all sorts of Korean food here? Are you going through a lot of trouble every time I come back to visit?”

                Her mother stammered. “N-no! For my son-in-law anything is a pleasure. It’s, erm, I was just trying new dishes! There is nothing wrong with trying new things.” She drew herself up indignantly. “If I want to learn to make dukbokki, I will learn to make dukbokki. Now go before you keep Maliha waiting.”

                Donghae walked over and held her hand. “Bye omoni, thank you for your love.” They waved goodbye and walked out. Only to be confronted by a man coming out of a huge rental truck. Sneaking a look inside, Maliha confirmed that this was the tent they had ordered. Breathe in, breathe out.

                “Miss! Is this the tent you were reserving for the,” he began.

                She hurriedly cut him off. “Go inside, and talk to my mother. I don’t know what’s going on. I mean, why would she need a tent? I think she has plans for a camping trip or something. Come on, Donghae. We have to hurry. The restaurant I wanted to go, erm, closes early today.” She tugged on his arm and marched down the street.

                When they collapsed on the train seats, he turned to look at her. “Are you okay? You seem feverish. What was with that tent? And all those papers lying around in the house.”

                “What? What papers? The tent? Who cares Donghae. You’re with me right now. Put all those thoughts out of your head.” She glanced to see if anyone was looking. “Besides, I miss you. Don’t you miss me?” She tilted her head to the side and pouted up at him. He really did look amazing. He was in his classic plaid button down and his hair was slightly in his face. His beautiful eyes lit up when he smiled at her.

                “Ya, yeobo, it’s too public to be even thinking of seducing me like this,” he whispered.

                She smacked him on the arm. “Who said anything about seducing? All you had to say was that you missed me. Psh, pabo.” She folded her arms and sank into the seat.

                Donghae poked her in the arm and nudged him with his head. “Don’t be mad at Donghae. Fishy apologizes.” She giggled and pushed his nose in. Silly fish.