super slow update, I know ( can't believe I posted the last chapter way back in May 2015). I'm so sorry. Hope you still read this. 

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I squinted my eyes as the sun light poured through the window. I thought I heard Luhan’s voice, calling my name, waking me up, but of course, that was all in my head. Slowly,  I swept my messy hair out of my face and stood up to finally start the day.

                Right at the moment when I stepped out of the washroom, I heard several knocks coming from the main door. I quickly put on clean clothes, basically anything that I could grab out of my closet, then immediately headed for the knob.  

                “Who’s there?” I shouted even before I could figure out for myself through the peep hole. However, not a single response was heard. When I checked, it was as if something, most probably a hand, was blocking the view so I can’t know for sure who’s ringing the bell.

                Is it Luhan? I wondered to myself. He left so soon last night I didn’t even get the chance to ask if he already retrieved his own card to this condo. Then again, Luhan’s not that comfortable yet to play a prank on me. Perhaps, Sehun?

                Despite my better judgment, I turned the handle and pulled the door open. A series of pops immediately greeted my ears, and voices loud enough to wake the neighbors gleefully screamed “Happy Birthday!” to me. When I finally got the chance to take a good look after all that confetti dropped to the floor, I realized that they were my best mates in college who I have been shutting out for weeks: Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Ga Young, Joo Hyun, and Yu Rin. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were the ones who played with the confetti poppers while Ga Young held the cake in her hands. They were all smiling at me, probably satisfied with the way they got to successfully pull their act of surprising me early in the morning.

                “Can’t you be happier to see us?” Baekhyun asked, pulling my cheeks. His level of energy even at such an ungodly hour never fails to amaze me. 

                “I am,” I responded, trying to get him off. “Jeez, I was just…surprised. Thank you! I didn't expect any visitors today.”

                “Think we forgot your birthday?” Joo Hyun asked, a playful smile curving the edge of her lips. “Blow the candles before they run out!”

                So I did, and immediately invited them in. I didn’t want the neighbors to start scolding us for the noises we’ve been creating. I also made sure to sweep the confetti, before the guard could even do his patrol and report Luhan and I for violating the condominium rules.

                “Were you planning to stay coop up in bed?” Ga Young asked as I watch Joo Hyun place the cake down on the table.

                “Not really,” I answered, fixing my hair bun. “But I wasn’t planning on doing anything special either. Coffee guys?”

                “Sure!” Baekhyun answered energetically. He and Chanyeol proceeded to switching on the television without asking. They surely make themselves feel at home every time they come over.

                “Really?” Ga Young urged on, placing her hands on either side of her hips. “Everyone should be crazy about birthdays!”

                “Definitely not me,” I said as I entered the kitchen counter and took out some mugs to start brewing for us.

                “Where’s Luhan, by the way?” Yu Rin asked, and I glimpsed Chanyeol avert his gaze from the TV to look around, probably to check if Luhan’s coming out. “Is he sleeping still? He should be celebrating with us! Are you guys doing something later?”

                “No, Luhan’s not here,” I said, trying to dismiss the topic immediately. I made sure my voice came out calm and stable to stir away any suspicions. I still haven’t talked to Luhan about all these so I don’t want to start telling people about the accident without his permission.  “He’s busy, y’know, doing something for his parents.” Of course, that was a lie. I don’t even know what he’s doing or when he is coming back if he's even planning to. 

                “What?  Are you guys finally tired of each other?” Chanyeol joked. Joo Hyun slapped his arm as if to make him stop his jesting. “He made such a fuzz about your birthday last year. I don’t think anything his parents tell him would make him pass on this day.”

                “Yeah,” Joo Hyun butted in. “I still remember it! God, it was so sweet. Can’t Luhan be more perfect??? I’m sure he’s planning to surprise you before the day ends.”

                “C’mon guys,” I said, wanting to get rid of this conversation as soon as possible. “It’s really not that important to me whether he does something or not. I’m just okay.”

                Just okay.

I gulped down my coffee, not even caring whether it would burn my own tongue. As always, I found myself doing things just to keep my thoughts away from anything that would make me feel weak. I even took my time to carefully partition the brewed coffee to each of the mugs I placed in front of my eyes, giving it much attention I would not have imagined I'd ever do the way baristas in cafes treat their coffee beans every single day.  I remained silent as they focus on watching the television show I have no idea what is while they wait for me to finish, but then, soon enough, I found out that silence only gives me time to reminisce more than necessary. 

                The way I remember it, my birthday last year was one of the happiest celebrations I have ever done in my life. Luhan gathered all my friends in one place, even my brother Kris, who I know is very busy, and my grandmother, just to wish me a happy birthday in front of all the workers in the restaurant where we ate lunch and had fun together. Even when I know he wanted to chat more with our friends, he chose to hang around with my grandmother instead, even listening attentively to her old stories which I know could be really boring sometimes. I watched him laugh at all the right places, and charm my grandmother, just like he charmed his way to all of his friends, including me. I liked how he didn’t want to make me feel uncomfortable by spending luxuriously, so he decided to touch my heart by giving me a day to spend with all the people I value. I remember Kris even asking me how come Luhan’s acting as if he’s ready to ask my grandmother for permission to marry me. I remember flushing beet red at this, and loudly denying the accusation by childishly slapping Kris all over his back. Of course Luhan wouldn’t do that, we were technically still kids, with a whole wide world to greet us and many people still to meet and have friendly relationships with.

                Then, after all the happy conversations, Luhan properly ended the gathering by announcing that he and I have somewhere else to go. I bugged him to telling me but he stood his ground until we actually arrived at the place. At first, I didn’t quite understand why he brought me to a farm, so I just let him drag me inside the front barn where we both changed to more proper clothes and boots. Then we made our way past the vegetable field, the vineyard, and the corn field for almost  half an hour until we finally arrived in front of a large green house. However, even before I could know whatever he is being so excited about, I noticed how almost all of the workers there wave at him as if they’ve been hanging around with each other lately. It was kind of overwhelming, Luhan’s friendliness, I mean. I was even more surprised when he greeted some people by their names. In fact, a guy, probably only a little older than us, even stopped checking the grapes just to ask, “D-day?”

                Luhan grinned back at him and said, “Yes. This is Park Jun Hee, hyung. She’s my girlfriend.”

                “I see,” he said, smiling at us knowingly. “Well, don’t let me keep you! And Jun Hee-ssi, Happy Birthday!”

                I was surprised he knew, but I would guess Luhan told him, so I thanked him and made sure to do a quick bow before Luhan started pulling me with him again. I didn’t even know why he’s being so thrilled, but I found myself smiling at this. Sometimes, Lu Han could be so manly, but he could also be cute like a five-year old kid.

                When we entered the greenhouse, I was immediately captured by the beauty of the flowers. There were just so many and they were of different colors and sizes. I couldn’t even decide where to look first, so I spent a whole minute just scanning the whole place, and looking so ridiculously innocent and happy.

                “Wh—“ I started but Luhan immediately stopped me.

                “Don’t jump to conclusions,” he said, lacing back my hand with his as he tried to stabilize his breathing after all the walking and running we did. “I didn’t make this. The greenhouse is part of the farm’s possession. My family definitely don’t own the farm either. I don’t think my parents are interested in this kind of business.”

                “Of course, you making this never even crossed my mind,” I said, teasingly sticking out a tongue to him. I noted how he was looking at me with sparkles in his eyes, as if he was satisfied with the way I reacted the moment we entered the greenhouse. “I just wondered why you brought me here.”

                “Well…” he said, then he removed his eyes on mine and also scanned the place. “I didn’t know what to get you for your birthday. You always tell me you don’t want me spending on you—“

                “That’s right,” I interjected.

                “Then I noticed how other girls seem to be happy when they receive flowers, but I also know you’re not like those other girls. Still, I planned to give you one, but I don’t know what kind of flower to get you. I figured, you might say to me it’s a waste of money since they’re all going to die anyway, definitely the same as how you usually scold me for wasting films every time I take pictures of you. Of course, I would never agree with you on that last part,” I chuckled then let him continue. “So I thought, I could just bring you to a flower garden, where we could look at it together.” He squeezed my hand and I noticed how he had that nervous expression on his face, as if he’s suddenly unsure if this was what I wanted. I knew he was playing a game of trial and error, just guessing what I would like and what I wouldn’t. What he didn’t realize was how weird I felt at that moment, how happy and terrified at the same time, that he knows me more than I think I know myself.  

                “This is beautiful,” I told him simply, too overwhelmed to know exactly what to say. “Thank you Luhan.”

                “Are you sure?” he asked, worry thick in his voice. “Don’t say that if you just want to make me feel better. I have a list of other places we could go, we could even—“

                I placed a hand on his cheek to stop his fretting and said, “Luhan, I’m serious. This is…perfect. This is more than I could ever ask of you. You never fail to amaze me every single year, I don’t think I can ever pay you back.”

                “There’s no need for that,” he said then he turned his head to the right so that he could avoid my gaze. For a second, I didn’t understand what that was for but then he suddenly continued what he was saying, “I’m doing this, because I love you.”

                I let out a chuckle. Luhan is so cute. We’ve been dating for almost 3 years then but he still acts shy sometimes. I seriously can’t understand how he could be so blunt at times, and shy in other occasions, like this one.

                “I know,” I said, still chuckling.

                “Actually, I still have something to show you…” he started, shrugging a bit.  

                “What?”

                “But it’s still not perfect you see…” he continued, then brought me along with him as he started walking again. I furrowed my brows in confusion as we headed for one corner of the greenhouse. We stopped in front of a patch that holds mini flowers that looked like white peonies.

                “The other gardeners were helping me take care of these,” he explained. “But they are not still fully grown. I wanted to show this to you when—“

                “Wait,” I cut him off then crouched down to touch the petals. “You planted this??”

                “Yeah,” he said, his voice kind of uncertain. “This part here is actually ours. I know it’s small, but I don’t think we can manage growing flowers since we’re so busy with school and other things. I just want to try doing it anyway, y’know, planting. As I’ve said, I’ve been receiving a lot of help, so this one isn’t even by my own effort alone, but I still hope you appreciate it. I was also kind of thinking that when the root grows a bit more mature, we could transfer them to a pot and bring them to the condo.”

                “Are you kidding me?” I said, then stood up. “Luhan, I love it.” I then hugged him by the neck as he automatically secured me by putting his arms around my waist. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best birthday gift ever!”

                “Well, I’m sure next year would be better,” he said, smiling. He kissed my forehead before I pulled away. “I already know what to give you.”

                “What?” I said, grinning at him. “Do you spend every waking period thinking about my birthday gift?”

                “No,” he immediately denied, wide-eyed. “I spend every bit of the morning thinking how to look good for the girls.” Then he playfully swept back his air to expose his perfect forehead.

                “Okay. Can we just go back to talking about the flowers?” I commented, frowning at him.

                “I’m kidding!” he said, laughing.

                “No, you officially ruined my birthday,” I continued.

                “How is wanting to make you jealous ruining your birthday?” he asked, poking my sides.

                “You didn