Jonghyun's POV

The first thing I hear as I arrive at the 2nd floor from the stairs is "Shake it to the Right~!  If you're having a good time!"

Huh.

Spice Girls?

I scanned the area at this party.

Yeah, I arrived to Los Angeles and came over to where the invitation would take me to.

I couldn't dress myself in the Juliette music video clothing because I could get easily recognize from a few of Nikka's friends, so I ended up wearing what Key prepared for me, along with the mask.

I scanned the area again, and realized not many people are wearing masks and are dressed more casual than modern.

Jeez, I've heard of few people not caring about dress code, but this has got to be ridiculous!

This was Nikka's idea and they're not appreciating it well!

And it's her 18th birthday, too!

Way back in the corner, I can see some of Connie's friends, which includes Tasha.

They all dressed according to code really well, except for this one guy.....I'm pretty sure he missed the modern part of modern masquerade.

I mean he had the leotards and everything from the Renaissance era.

Damn.  O.O

Anyways, I walk further into the party and see no one dancing except for little kids and a few other ones just running around.

I gotta be extra careful not to get recognized by anybody else, considering this is the same Korean barbeque restaurant that Nikka's parents celebrated their anniversary in at the 1st floor below us.

Which means they know who Kim Jonghyun, lead singer of SHINee, looks like.  AISH.

I smiled and bowed to a few people, and surprisingly no on even asked or questioned who the heck I am.

They probably thought I was one of Nikka's friends that she invited over.

"Eh?  Is that Mr. Kim?"

Oh f*** my life.

I turned around to find a couple, thankfully not Nikka's parents (or specifically Tita).  Actually, the elderly man looks a lot like Tito.

"Hey, you're Kevin Kim, right?  The one who's marrying my lovely niece?"  the elder man asked.  Oh, so he must be Tito's brother.

............................................eh?

Kevin Kim?

Come to think of it, Key warned me something about this.....AH!  Kevin is Key's English full name back when he schooled here for a while!

Which means, people were expecting Key to arrive here.

................................................................................................................

Dammit!  That diva lied to me!

"Called them and said I'd bring an because I can't make it" my a**!

He expects me to pretend to be him?!  I thought I was supposed to blend in, not be called out like I'm an attraction!

The ranting in my mind vanished right away once everyone heard the elevator doors slide open, revealing a beautiful girl in a gorgeous modernized dress along with a mask.

It was at that moment I can tell she was the gorgeous girl I still love.

Nikka's hair - when did she dye it blonde?!  Wait...it's sorta gradient like how my Ring Ding Dong hair was.  I mentally facepalmed remembering the grad pics she sent me on email.

Her hair was curled everywhere and I can tell she wore lipstick - she looks more beautiful without all those makeup stuff.  Why would she wear something on her birthday that she's uncomfortable with?

I could tell because I recognize that plastic smile anywhere on her face as she greeted her guests.

I could tell she really doesn't like the outcome much.

She really wanted to invite us before the crash, but after she got amnesia, she followed Tita's every order.

Nikka's eyes widened and a hint of a genuine smile displayed on her face as she spotted around where I am.  It's as if that smile was meant for me.  I let out a small smile on my face, knowing she wasn't going to come towards me.

"Jonghyun?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and realized she's standing right in front of me with a genuine smile on her face.

:D  YAY!  SHE CAME TO ME!

I smiled back and held her hand, rubbing the back of it with my thumb softly.  "Happy Birthday, Princess~" I greeted her as I softly kissed the back of her hand and slowly let go.

A light blush flashed across her cheeks as she glanced at her aunt and uncle nearby us.  Oh crap!  Did they see that?! 

Looks like no one else did though....

Suddenly Nikka's aunt clapped her hands in glee.  "Awww~ you two are so sweet together!" she exclaimed.  Her uncle nodded in agreement.  "Which guy are you?" he asked.

Nikka and I looked to him in confusion.  "What are you talking about?"  I asked back.

"My brother mentioned two guys named Kevin and Jason courting over his daughter, so I'm assuming you're one of them..." he replied.  Jason?  Oh wait, that's the English name I had to use with the people in this country because it's hard for them to pronounce my name.

Nikka just stared at her uncle and laughed.  "Tito, Jason here is just my friend.  Kevin is the one I'm marrying, not him!"  she explained.

Now her uncle was confused.  "What?  I thought for sure your father said Jason is your boy - MMPPH!"  I cut him off by clamping my hand over his mouth.  "Errr...Nikka!  Why don't you start eating?  The food looks good!"  I suggested quickly.

Nikka blinked in reply and shrugged.  "Sure."  she replied as she headed towards the table of food.  As soon as she was earshot away, I let go of her uncle and pulled both him and his wife over by the bar.  I asked them in a whisper, "Umm....actually, have you heard about the car accident Nikka had?"

They nodded.  "Yeah, that was tragic to hear.  Thank God she survived in one piece!  I heard from her mother that she's fine now."  Nikka's aunt told me.

I gaped at them.  "........she's not exactly fine.  She has amnesia, so she doesn't remember all of us and the fact that I AM her boyfriend,"  I whispered softly, "Nikka now thinks that her boyfriend is my best friend, Kevin, so she agreed to marry him when both their parents suggested the idea."

They gasped lightly.  "Wow,"  the uncle voiced out softly.  "I didn't think my own brother would decide these kinds of things for his own daughter."

I shook my head.  "It wasn't Tito.  It was his wife."

"Oh~"  They nodded in understanding.  "Well where is Kevin?"

"He's at Japan.  I got permission to specifically come here for Nikka's birthday celebration."  Suddenly, someone tugs my sleeve.  I turn my head to look at Nikka.

"Come on~ let's go!"  she squealed with excitement as she dragged me to the food reception area.

The party turned out to end an hour early, so the workers there gave me and Nikka time to use the karaoke system while they clean up.  All the guests left at once, and even Nikka's parents had to leave to prepare more important preparations like Key & Nikka's wedding in about 2 months from now.

We fooled around with the main system controlling the karaoke machine by the bar area and played party packs of several pop songs.

Damn, this thing is uploaded with the latest pop crazes!

Key would love this!

Plus, since there's a dance floor, maknae would love this, too!

Together, Nikka & I danced as we sang along melodies of Ring Ding Dong, A.Mi.Go, Oh!, Heartbreaker, So Hot, Gee, Replay, Nu ABO, Chu~, My Ear's Candy, and many Big Bang songs randomly playing.  After belching out what we know from the lyrics, the workers remaining clapped and laughed with glee.

"You guys are good!"  Well duh, we're singers!  But they don't know that I'm a singer because I had my mask on the whole time.  Hehe~

Nikka grinned at them.  "Thanks~"  she spoke in Korean and bowed formally at a 90 degree angle.

My eyes widened at her.  "N-Nikka?  You remember how to speak Korean now?"  I asked her in astonishment.

She blinked and looked up at me, smiling afterwards and nodded childishly.

I felt a goofy grin appear on my face and practically glomped her in a hug.  "YAY!  YOU REMEMBER KOREAN NOW!  F*** YES!"  I cried out in Korean.

The rest of the workers called us a cute couple in Korean and left downstairs by elevator after shutting the karaoke system down.  I helped Nikka walk down the stairs because her dress was as big as a ballroom wedding gown.  By now she removed her mask and held onto it as we both walked carefully out of the restaurant, but not before bowing and thanking the workers of the restaurant for making the effort of Nikka's birthday party special.

The second I stepped out of the restaurant, I stretched my arms as high as I could and then reached towards my face.  I ripped the mask from my face and flipped my bangs a bit, giving me that y look that fans love.

Nikka laughed at me and rolled her eyes as she ran towards the benches in front of the garden restaurant and plopped onto her seat.  She patted the seat beside her and motioned for me to sit there.  I rushed over to her and sat down quickly.

We both stared up at the night sky and sighed in unison.

"Aish, my feet hurt!"  Nikka suddenly mumbled in Korean as she bent down to remove the heels hiding underneath her dress and are attatched to her poor feet.  Deep down inside, I mentally celebrated with joy for the fact that my Nikka can remember Korean again!

She slipped off one of her heels but struggled with the other.  I stood up and left my mask on my seat as I went in front of Nikka and bent down on one knee to reach for her heel.

"Here, let me."

She hesitated but then eventually let me undo the buckle of her heel and slowly slipped it off of her foot.  Her head shortly bowed to me as a thank you before hiding her feet back underneath her dress, but I captured her feet and saw how slightly swollen they are from wearing heels.  I got worried and looked up at her.

"Hold on, okay?  I'll be right back."  I told her.  She nodded, letting me run to a car I rented out right after arriving in LA from the airport.  I took something from the car and came back, bending down again to take her feet and place the sneakers I bought for her on them.

Nikka gasped in surprise.  "Those are really good sneakers!"  she exclaimed.  "And that's my favorite color!"

I chuckled and stood up while dusting my pants.  "Back in Korea, before that accident, you told me you've always wanted to buy the most comfortable yet stylish shoes in your taste.  You saw those during window shopping, but they were still expensive at the time.  I decided to buy them for you for your birthday."  I explained to her.  "Happy birthday, Nikka."

She looked like she was about to cry, but she rarely cried unlike me, so I knew she wasn't going to do so anytime soon.  Besides, she had that stupid smile on her face that I find so cute and alluring.  "Thank you, Jonghyun..."  she softly thanked me.

We locked eyes with each other and our gaze was so intense with silence, but it was the good kind of silence.  Comfortable silence.

I suddenly remembered the heels at the bench next to us and something got to my head.  "Hey, what time is it?"  I asked her.

She glanced at her watch.  "8:51p.m.  Why?"

I grinned at her.  "Since technically you're of legal age now in Korea and in America, who would care that you'd spend the rest of your birthday outdoors instead of going straight home?  Besides, your parents won't mind, since you're getting married really soon...."  I trailed off and decided not to speak of it more if I didn't want to cry in front of her.

Nikka thought carefully and shrugged.  "Why not?"  She grinned back and noticed her heels as well.  She grabbed them as she stood up from her seat and placed them on the ground in front of the bench we were sitting on.  She also left her mask on her seat and took my hand in hers.

"Let's go?"

I glanced back at what evidence we left.  For some reason, it was a mark I had to capture for Key to see.

I mean, sure, I took photos during the party, but this feels sort of romantic.

So, I took out my camera from my pocket and took a quick clear picture of the bench.

I smiled back at Nikka as I placed the camera back in my pocket.  "Let's go."

I tightened the grip of our hands entwined together as we, best friends for now, ran on the sidewalk path in the middle of the night to the fountain across the street around the corner.

People looked at us crazily while we laughed our heads off due to the sudden rush flowing through our veins.

Once we arrived at the fountain, we checked to see if there were any policemen driving around.  When the coast was clear, I turned to Nikka while the both of us took off our shoes and aligned them beside the fountain so that no one could notice them enough to steal them or something.

"Okay, if anyone asks, especially a policeman, you tell him the truth that it's your birthday, but say you and I are best friends with the same birthday today.  Also, fake your age as 16 while I just turned 17, thus the reason for our attire."

She nodded and looked back at me.  "Alright, but if they happen to ask why we're doing this, we tell them that we were having a bad day and took it out on the fountain right here because there's no damn rain to match our sullen moods.  Plus, no one showed up at our birthday party.  Okay?"

I nodded.  We both took a glance at the flowing water of the fountain.  I let Nikka duck her head into the water to get rid of her excessive makeup first.  After she did that, I took off my black suit jackets and used it to wipe her face carefully, removing all the makeup with out having it stained on her beautiful pure dress.

Slowly, I stopped and let go of my jacket, letting it fall on the ground, as we locked gazes again.  But this time, our faces were really close to each other and -

SPLASH!

OH HELL TO THE NAH.

SHE DID NOT JUST PUSH ME TO THE FOUNTAIN!

"YAH!  YOU'RE LUCKY MY DIGITAL CAMERA IS WATERPROOF!"  I yelled at her.  She screamed and tried to run away, but I was more swift and grabbed her by the waist, dragging her over to the fountain.

SPLASH!

Nikka yelped and giggled as she slowly stood up inside the fountain with me, soaked from head to toe.  I decided to take my camera out and take pictures of each other while playing around with her in the water.  We were having the time of our lives that we barely noticed and simply ignored the remaining people around the fountain on the streets.

Even the police arrived and looked at us in question, but then gave up and literally told us how "cute we look together".

We glanced at each other and giggled before fighting in the water again.

We had to stop once Nikka's watch beeped in alarm.  I stared at her in wonder.  "What time is it?"

She looked at her watch and sighed.  "It's 1 more minute until my birthday is over."  she complained and pouted.

I continued to stare at her.  "Nikka."

"Hm?"  She stopped pouting and looked up at me with her puppy eyes.

I slowly leaned in to capture her lips in mine.

Okay!  I know this doesn't help much with her memory, but she knows by know that I love skinship, so in a way I can get away with this.

I just....needed to feel her lips again after so long....

I pulled away just as slowly as I leaned in earlier and whispered, "May all your wishes come true in this fountain that we're standing on.  All these coins below will from now on serve to grant your wishes, and I'll forever be your special Genie to grant them.  Are you okay with that?"

Nikka slowly let out a small smile.  "I'd actually like that very much.  Thank you, Jonghyun, for making my birthday special..."

"Anytime, babe."

And then the clock tower nearby struck midnight, signaling the old bells to ring.