ELEVEN

(Seorin's POV)

"Happy birthday to you~" sang Yun Hee as she shouldered the door of my room open, carrying a cake. I sat up in bed and grinned as she stopped in front of me.

  "Happy birthday Seorin-ah!!" Yun Hee hugged me tightly after I blew the candles.

  "Komawo," I said hugging her back. I scooped up some icing with my finger and licked it. "Mmmh, did you make this?" I asked.

  "Is it good?" she asked anxiously.

  "Of course it is," I reassured her. "You're an awesome cook. Let's go to the kitchen to enjoy it properly."

  Just then my phone rang. It was a video call from my mother.

  "Soerin-ah! Happy birthday darling!" she said as soon as I answered. She was beaming from ear to ear.

  "Move over. Don't hog her all to yourself," a voice said and I chuckled as my father came into view. His face lit up when he saw me. "Happy birthday sweetie!"

  "Komawo omma, appa," I said as Yun Hee peaked over my shoulder to wave at my parents.

  "So when are you going to visit us eh?" appa asked "We miss you."

  "Soon," I promised, not mentioning why I couldn't visit them last week. "And I miss you too."

  "Don't tire yourself by always working ok?" Omma said "Make sure you go out and have some fun."

  "That's what I tell her too," Yun Hee complained "But she's always tied up at company with that handsome boss of hers!"

  "Handsome boss?!" Appa asked immediately. I swatted Yun Hee away before she could say anything else.

  "Don't listen to her," I said trying to change the topic "By the way, where's oppa?"

  My parents' smiles wavered a bit and a sudden fear gripped my heart. "Wae?! What happened??!"

  "He wasn't  feeling very well so he's in hospital," Omma said gently "But don't worry, he'll be alright."

  "But why? Didn't he finish all his treatment?" I asked, my voice cracking a bit.

  "He did. But symptons started showing again" Appa said "He's strong, he'll fight it. Don't worry." There was a silence. I blinked furiously and Yun Hee squeezed my hand sympathetically.

  "We'll hang up then," Omma said breaking the silence. "Don't think about anything and enjoy your birthday ok? We love you."

  "I love you too," I said, managing to drag up a smile. Once they hung up, I sat on my bed staring at the wall blankly. Yun Hee got up and pulled me to my feet.

  "Smile. You shouldn't be sad on your birthday. Your brother will be alright," she said "Let's go out and have fun. Maybe watch a movie and do some shopping?"

  "But I have work-" I started.

  "Aish forget about your work for a minute," she chided "It's your birthday. Do you want to be bossed around by Mr. Handsome all day?"

  "You're right," I straightened up.

  "That's my girl!" Yun Hee cheered.

.  .  . 

(Sehun's POV)

  I turned to tell Seorin to get me a coffee and then remembered she wasn't there. Aish, seriously. Half of me was annoyed she was not there and half was annoyed that I cared. But I was so used to having Seorin by my side that it felt weird when she was not.

  I made my way to the cafeteria to get myself a coffee and maybe something to eat. I was pondering on what to get when someone said, "Excuse me, can you tell me where Seorin is?"

  I turned to see that Ji Hun guy. The one who always seemed to be hovering around Seorin. "She didn't come to work today," I said.

  "Oh," he said, his smile fading a bit "Do you know why?"

  "No," I replied. It was unlike Seorin to miss work, specially when the fashion show was nearing. "Maybe she's sick?" I hope not...

  "Oh," Ji Hun looked worried. I felt a bit annoyed. She's MY assistant. Why does he care?

  "Why do you want her?" I asked somewhat sharply.

  "It's her birthday," he said holding up a small box. "I got her a gift."

  Her birthday! Why didn't I know about this?!

  "Do you think she's like this?" Ji Hun asked, opening the box to reveal a chain with a small silver pendant carved in the shape of a rose. I shrugged. It was beautiful but I wasn't going to tell him that.

  "Well, I hope she does," Ji Hun said, closing the box carefully.

  "Do you like her? Seorin?" I asked suddenly.

  Ji Hun looked up and stared at me for a moment. "Yes," he said "Very much"

  "Oh," I had suspected as much. The guy was always trying to flirt with Seorin.

  "Do you like her?" Ji Hun inquired.

  "No," I said quickly. Maybe a bit too quickly. But I don't, right??

  Ji Hun looked at me like he didn't know whether to believe me or not. Then he shrugged. "I'll see you around," he said and walked away.

  I turned back to the food but my mind was on other things.

  It's Seorin's birthday.

  Should I get her a gift? Something better that what that Ji Hun got her?

 Aish why didn't she tell me about her birthday? I thought in frustration.

 But another voice in my head whispered, Because you never bothered to ask.

 .  .  . 

(Seorin's POV)

  We got out of the taxi laden with bags after an entire day of shopping. Yun Hee had insisted that she took me shopping and bought me everything I wanted.

  "My feet!" she whined, trying not to drop any of her bags.

  "Mine too," I groaned "Just a few more steps. We can do it!"

  Yun Hee who was walking in front of me, suddenly stopped, causing me to bump into her. "Wae?" I asked.

  "You seem to have a secret admirer," she said.

  "Huh?" I peaked over her shoulder and saw a huge pile of presents at our doorstep. Baffled, I walked up to it. There was a bunch of balloons and boxes of all shapes and sizes, but none of them had a name. Once, we were inside, Yun Hee and I took a closer look at the gifts.

  "Wahhh!!!!" Yun Hee squealed as she unwrapped a box of Chanel perfumes.

  "Who would send me such expensive gifts?!" I asked in confusion. Apart from the perfumes, there were cosmetics, shoes, dresses and handbags.

  "I told you, you have a secret admirer," Yun Hee said. "How romantic!"

  "More like how creepy," I said "Everything is exactly my size." I held up a dress to show Yun Hee.

  "Then it must be someone who knows you well," she said "A guy."

  "What makes you think it's a guy?" I challenged "Maybe it's  A-yeong."

  "Aish don't be silly. Of course its a guy!" she chided "Why else would it be anonymous?"

  "Argh, I dunno," I said.

  "It's a guy, trust me," Yun Hee said "So any guesses as to who it might be?" 

  Could it be...? Aish don't be stupid! Why would he send me anything? 

  "Nope. No guesses," I sighed.

.  .  . 

(Sehun's POV)

  "Sehun give me your phone," Kai said over the blaring of the TV. I tossed him the phone and turned back to the movie.

  "Yah! Lower the volume," Xiumin said, throwing a cushion at me.

  "You need to watch action movies with high volume," I grumbled as I lowered the sound "Otherwise it's no fun."

  Suddenly, Kai jumped up and started waving around my phone like a maniac. "Yahhh what is this??!!" he yelled, jumping up and down.

  "What is what?" I asked, baffled as the rest.

  "Why have you searched for 'cute gifts for girls' ?" he asked grinning widely.

  "YAH!" I jumped to my feet and snatched away my phone from Kai who was still dancing in excitement. "Who told you to go through my search history?!"

  "I didn't. Your recent searches showed up under the search bar automatically," Kai said scooting away before I could hit him. Meanwhile, the rest of the members had erupted into cheeky 'oooos' and 'aaahhs'

  "So is it for who I think it is?" Chanyeol asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

  "Who do you think it is for?" I asked defensively, rolling my eyes.

  "Sehun and Seorin sitting in a treeee, K-I-S-" started Baekhyun.

  "HYUNGGG!!" I wailed, trying not to blush. "It's her birthday ok? So I gave her a gift."

  "Her birthday? Is that all?" asked Lay with a grin. "Are you sure it's not anything else?"

  "Hyung!" I protested "Besides, she's my assistant. It would be rude if I didn't even get her a gift. Think what you want." I started to leave the room but Suho pushed me back on to the sofa.

  "Yah, how long are you going to use that as an excuse to treat her huh?" he asked.

  "It's not-"

  "Admit it Sehun. You like her," D.O interrupted with a grin.

  "No I don't," I said stubbornly. All of them raised their eyebrows.

  "Tell us truthfully. What do you feel when she's with you?" Chen asked. "Truthfully ok?"

  "Well, when she's with me I think she's annoying," I said and they immediately started protesting. "But, when she's not there...I kinda miss her," I finished, a little shyly.

  "Oooo I smell love in the air!!!" yelled Chanyeol.

  "Its not love," I grumbled "Just...friendship."

  "Yeah right," Baekhyun rolled his eyes "Tell us what happens when you see her. Does your heart start racing?"

  I thought of the photoshoot, how my heart had gone crazy when she stepped out of the dressing room. And how deadly beautiful she had looked when we posed for the photos. And how cute she had been that day in the van when she had scrunched up her nose and did aegyo to imitate my fans. Seorin had thought I was disgusted, when in truth, I had been completely taken aback at how cute she had looked.

  "No," I lied "I don't feel anything."

  "Who do you think you're kidding huh?" Xiumin asked exasperated. "Do you seriously think we won't know you're lying?"

  I sighed. "Ok, fine. Maybe my heart does beat a teeny bit faster when I see her. Though I don't know why."

  "I know what's happening to you," D.O said seriously. "You're suffering from a severe case of BBE."

  "BBE?"

  "Big Brown Eyes!" he said and everyone started squealing and laughing. Chanyeol grabbed me by the arm and started shaking me till my teeth rattled. I was doing my best not to blush.

  "If you're not sure if you like her or not, I have an idea for you to try," Suho said, a big grin on his face.

  "What?" I asked 

  We all leaned in and Suho revealed his plan.

.  .  . 

(A/N) OMG did you guys listen to Kai's 'Mmmh' ?😍🔥 I DIED. This is my ghost typing this. Seriously the vocals, the visuals and the dance is just out of this world. Argh I'm so excited for rest of the album!!!😆😆 I gotta go and mentally prepare myself for it. Bye.