Serving 5: Chapter 6 - "Happy Birthday, Youngbae pt.2"
Part 1
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The door swung open as Jiyong and Seunghyun piled in the apartment struggling with the large package. Jiyong felt like his insides wanted to burst as his knees quaked underneath the weight. Seunghyun after all was taller than him and it out weighed the packed to his side.
“Why the heck is it so heavy?” Jiyong groaned as they went down the hall towards Youngbae’s room.
Daesung came in leisurely followed by Sarah and Seungri. “Don’t complain, Hyung. It’s for Youngbae-hyung, anyway.”
“Oh yeah? Well, tell him he has to do something this good for me on my birthday.”
Their noisiness traveled down Youngbae’s room, through the hall, and into the living room.
“Ok. Put it right here.”
“For goodness’ sake, Seungri, don’t shake it! We bought four and there should be four by the time Youngbae gets here.”
“Oppa, gently. Don’t use force. Let it get used to its environment.”
“Well, when I signed up for this band was I pushed gently into this dump? No, I was forced to live up with this environment. Ow!”
“Enough talking, Ji.”
“Oh my freaking gosh! I think you killed it, Hyung!”
“It’s moving, you idiot.”
“I’m hungry.”
“It looks great! Oppa, should like this.”
“Nohrae, you better stay the butt away or I’ll hand you over to the Manyeo.”
Gradually, their excitement died down and they left Youngbae’s room and went to do the rest of the preparations.
Sarah cut out a thin slice from the baking pan. It could easily be covered with icing and Youngbae would never notice the missing piece. She handed the dainty plate to Jiyong who wasn’t doing anything. “Oppa, why don’t you try it?”
“But I wanted to taste it!” Seungri said. “I helped after all.”
“I’ll save you some.” Jiyong smirked at the maknae. Although he disliked anything from Sarah, cake could be a temporary truce anytime. He took a generous bite and choked the instant it touched his tongue. He dashed to the sink and spit it out, causing Sarah to cry out inwardly. She just cleaned the sink.
“What are you two trying to do?” Jiyong gasped. “Make this Youngbae’s last birthday?”
“It can’t be that bad,” Sarah said. She already knew how often Jiyong tended to overact. She took a bite to prove her point. Her eyes widened when the taste registered in her brain.
Seungri was curious and took a bite for himself. He spit it out on his hand and wiped it on the table. “Noona, it tastes like yuck!”
Sarah swallowed her piece bravely. “Seungri, did you add sugar?”
“Lots of it. I even added more when I told you that it tasted bland.”
“Which sugar did you use?”
“The one in the blue jar.”
Sarah lowered her head in defeat. “Seungri, that was salt.”
“Oh…!”
Jiyong leaned on the kitchen sink and looked at them. “Whoa, guys. That’s like a baker’s nightmare.”
Seungri started to panic. “What should we do? Hyung’s going to be here any minute.”
“I’ll get Daesung,” Sarah said. Before she even started getting up from her chair Jiyong did her a great favor.
“Dae, get your butt over here!!!”
“Mm, yes?” His head peeked over the corner from the living room.
Sarah sat back on her chair. “I need you to run to the store and buy the cake.”
“Wait. I thought you guys were making one.”
“Yeah, they were,” Jiyong cut in.
“Oh, I see.”
“I’ll just cover it in icing.” Of course the icing couldn’t go to waste. “That way Oppa will never notice it.”
“You want me to buy an un-iced cake?” Daesung lifted an eyebrow. It was a term unheard of.
“Well, I saw them sell it before.”
Daesung squirmed uneasily. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin the party by buying the wrong cake. “Erm…”
Sarah had seen that look many times before. She stood up and started untying her apron. “I’ll get it if you don’t want to.”
“I’ll come too.” Sarah looked at Jiyong like he was joking. “I mean to the lobby,” He corrected. No way would he go shopping with her even if it was only to buy one item. “Youngbae might arrive before you come so I’ll keep him busy.”
“Mmhmm,” Sarah hung her apron in the closet. “You were supposed to do that anyway.”
And she went without any recognition of appreciation.
Sarah realized how risky it would have been if she sent Daesung to shop. She herself had a difficult time looking for un-iced cake. But she found it nonetheless and she rushed down the street back to the apartment. Jiyong better be good at stalling. The cake would take a while to ice.
She saw Jiyong and Youngbae in the lobby. Jiyong had strategically placed Youngbae with his back facing the entrance. He saw Sarah and shook his head at a question Youngbae had asked him. He looked at her and motioned ‘don’t move’.
“I dunno, Bae,” Jiyong said loudly, causing the secretary and random businessman to google at him. “I think we should take the stairs. I heard the elevator’s being renovated.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is,” Jiyong insisted.
He dragged Youngbae to the stairs, turning his head and giving Sarah the signal to go.
I just might have to thank him after this, Sarah thought, as she sneaked behind them to the elevator. When she reached their floor she saw the last thing she needed to see stalking down the hall. The Manyeo was pacing up and down obviously waiting for someone to pounce on. Sarah groaned quietly. She didn’t have the freaking time for this! She dashed down the hall ignoring her completely and almost knocking the old lady down.
“Yah!” The Manyeo barked. But it was too late. Sarah had already locked the door behind her.
Manager was there helping in the kitchen setting the table. The second Seungri saw Sarah he handed her the icing that he prepared himself. Of course prepared as in he took it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter. He wasn’t going to try to handle food in a long time. Sarah slapped the icing on and did her best to smooth it down. Why was it that when something special was going to be served it had to be rushed to last minute? Sarah’s pensive thinking went back to the first dinner she had as housekeeper.
“Don’t worry,” Daesung assured her. “The more sloppy the more homemade it looks.”
The cake was finished only a moment too soon. The doorbell rang right after she covered the last piece. She gave it to the two Seunghyuns and sent them away to prepare for their grand entrance. As Daesung went to answer the door Sarah tossed her apron in the closet and sat down on a chair beside Manager trying to look as calm as possible.
“Good dinner’s ready,” Jiyong said continuing the act as he set Youngbae down eagerly.
Youngbae noticed something out of place. “Manager-hyung, what are you doing here?”
“Managing.”
“Speaking of Seungri and Seunghyun-hyung,” Daesung said his acting failing miserably. “Where are they?”
Youngbae shrugged. “I dunno.”
Suddenly the lights shut down. Before he could take the chance to announce an official blackout Seungri and Seunghyun came in, holding the lighted cake. It glowed and sent warm orange hues all over the kitchen. Youngbae covered his mouth in surprise and unbelief as they set it down in front of him.
“But guys,” he said, stuttering. “My birthday’s tomorrow.”
Jiyong elbowed him. “Yah, who cares? Your birthday’s today now.”
Nohrae, who came out of nowhere, landed on Youngbae’s shoulder as Daesung spoke. “Besides, Hyung, it was the only way we could surprise you.”
“Thank you, guys,” Youngbae said whole-heartedly and sincerely, his face glowing radiantly in the candlelight. “Thank you so much.”
Jiyong waved it off. “Save it for later. You haven’t sent the living room yet. Now hurry up and make a wish before the candles become part of the cake.”
Youngbae took a thoughtful second and then blew the candles out. Seunghyun turned on the lights as Seungri tried to fan away the smoke.
Sarah laid the cake away for later since they had to get through the real food first. Daesung was worried at first that Youngbae would be too happy to eat, since that was the usual reaction and it would be awkward for everybody else to eat more than the celebrant, but the was not the case. Youngbae was starving from all dance practices he had been drilled through the whole day.
Manager told the same jokes he cracked every birthday. The five had to fake their laughter. Except Seungri. He found it funny because his short memory didn’t remember hearing them at the past birthdays.
Youngbae couldn’t stop thanking them in between swallows and bites. Jiyong patted him on the back causing him to nearly choke on his chopstick. “There’s more, Bae. Save it for later.”
After eating Youngbae cut the cake. The best priority of birthdays was that you could size the pieces anyway you liked and give it to anyone you liked. He passed the biggest slice to Nohrae. The decent sized ones to Daesung, Sarah, Seungri, and Manager and the smallest to Seunghyun and Jiyong. Seunghyun took it like a man unlike Jiyong.
“You freaking spoil that bird!” Jiyong pointed savagely at Nohrae, who was reveling himself in the icing, with his plastic fork.
They went to eat in the living room. Youngbae nearly dropped his plate when he saw the bright and shining walls. Although they were plain and simple anything at the moment could touch Youngbae. He stared open mouth at the banner and cut out letters of his name.
“C’mon.” Daesung tapped him on his shoulder as they piled onto the couch and fought for the middle seat. Seunghyun won dominance and pushed Jiyong off.
Seungri slipped a CD into the DVD player and pressed play.
Youngbae looked at the others. “What’s this about?”
Daesung cut a piece of cake and stuffed it into his hyung’s mouth. “Sh, just watch.”
A countdown flashed on the screen then a video pooped up. An old video from one of their interview’s a while back.
“Youngbae-ssi,” the PD said behind the camera. “What do you like most about the other members?”
The old Youngbae with cornrows sticking under his beanie fidgeted on his chair. “Hmm. They’re all caring, loving, and like brothers. They makeup for the family I really miss. I’m really grateful for them.”
The video faded away and started showing a series of clips and pictures of the happiest moments with Youngbae and the others. His past birthdays. Their debut. And performances. Youngbae himself was too happy to attempt to swallow his cake. Protests came up from the couch when they noticed the number of photos with Jiyong that was showing up on the video.
“Sheesh, Jiyong, you’re so biased,” Seunghyun shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch squished between Seungri and Daesung. “We should have never let you make the video.”
Jiyong kicked him. “Yah, be quiet. We’re getting to the good part.”
The screen blackened and slowly dissolved to a video with Seungri sitting in the kitchen.
“What would you like to say to Youngbae for his birthday?” Jiyong’s voice came from behind the camera.
“Hyung, I hope you have many more birthdays to come! Because it was fun preparing and remember we did this all out of love! Saranghae!” Seungri made a miniature heart with his hands before the video switched to Seunghyun.
“Youngbae-ah,” Seunghyun said in his normal rough and almost demanding voice. “You better like your birthday party. I might not be able to rap after blowing all those balloons.”
“Hyung,” Daesung said in his video. “I want to thank you so much for being carrying and loving to us. You were like an older brother to Seungri and I, and I know how hard it is for you from being away from your family so long. Happy birthday!”
The camera jiggled a bit as Jiyong set it on a table. He sat upright on his bed so the camera would get a good view. “Youngbae-ah,” Jiyong started. “I don’t know if there’s anything else to add from what the others said, but continue working hard and doing your best. Because leader-ssi is happiest when you do and he loves you very much. Youngbae, fighting!”
Before Jiyong could take credit for his video making skills another clip flashed on.
“Is there anything you’d like to say to Youngbae for his birthday?”
Nohrae cocked its head as it stared into the camera. Suddenly, it jumped at the lense and knocked the camera back. The whole room shook as Jiyong yelled somewhere in the background. “What the heck? I’m never doing an interview with that freaking bird again!”
“Yah!” Jiyong stood up much to everybody’s protests as he blocked their view of the screen. “I thought I cut that clip out!”
“Sit down!” They grabbed him and pulled him down so they could enjoy the rest of the video.
Youngbae’s mother and brother appeared on the last clip. “Youngbae-ssi,” his mother waved a warm hand at the camera. “We hope you’re doing okay and staying healthy. I can’t say we don’t worry about you, because we really miss you and wish you were here. Even though you’re so far from us, rest assured that you’ve been a good son and we’re supporting you all the way. Umma really misses you, Youngbae.”
“Youngbae-ah, Happy Birthday.” His brother’s wave was so familiar and cheering that Youngbae found himself waving back at the TV screen. “We love you.”
The video faded to a close and all eyes were on Youngbae waiting for a reaction.
“Is he?” Jiyong removed Youngbae’s hand from his face. “Aww… He’s crying!”
“No, I’m not.” Youngbae flicked the drops quickly from his eyes with his fingertips.
Jiyong sighed into his seat and leaned on Youngbae, pillowing himself on his biceps. “Mission accomplished.”
“Wait, Hyung, there’s more.” Seungri tugged on Youngbae. “You haven’t seen your present yet.”
Youngbae was extremely surprised. The cake and the video was enough to keep him content. Had they actually went out their way for more? Seungri led him to his room with the others following behind. Youngbae’s thoughts were racing, wondering what they could have possibly prepared.
The maknae creaked the door open reveling an aquarium that rested on his desk.
Youngbae covered his mouth in surprise for the fourth time that day and gasped as he saw it, blinking his eyes hoping that it wasn’t a dream. “You didn’t.”
Jiyong pushed him forward. “We did.”
He staggered to the desk and stared at the fish, swimming about ignoring what was going on outside their own territory. “How did you guys know?”
Daesung exchanged glances with Sarah who was equally pleased. “Well, it was Sarah’s idea. She figured that just in case Nohrae had to leave you would still have a pet.”
Youngbae turned to look at the housekeeper who he had to bluntly shunned the past week. “Thank you,” he said, almost whispering. His eyes glowed sincerely. Sarah’s shined back in response.
Jiyong wrinkled his nose as he looked at both of them, feeling somewhat left out and annoyed. He smacked Youngbae’s head lightly. “Yah, that’s enough. Now hurry up and name them.”
Youngbae looked back into the aquarium. Where to start? He picked a yellow-disked fish that was layered in between the domesticated seaweed. “I’ll name it Daesung.”
There were two little red fish chasing each other at the top of the tank. “The bigger one can be Seunghyun and the smaller one is Seungri.”
Jiyong held his head up high in expectation as Youngbae fixed his eyes on the blue tailed fish that was supposedly the jewel of the aquarium. “That,” Youngbae said thinking for a moment. “can be Sarah.”
“What?!” Jiyong squawked. “What about me?”
Seunghyun pointed at a plastic rock that was stuffed into the corner of the aquarium. “That can be you.” He waved ridiculously at the intimate object. “Hi, Jiyong-ah!”
Jiyong stalked off leaving them in outrage. Really!
Jiyong sat on the kitchen chair throwing a tantrum, hoping that he could just rot there, while the others were still in Youngbae’s room cooing over the aquarium. Of course, he was just being childish. He wasn’t really mad. It was just his personality. And Youngbae was very happy. That was all that mattered.
Sarah walked in to get her shoes and leave, since it was already getting late. She passed him as if he didn’t exist and rummaged the coat closet for her hat. If Jiyong had been paying attention he would have noticed that she was staring at him arguing to herself silently. Finally, she bit her lip and threw away some of her pride. “Hey…Thanks for keeping Youngbae busy. We couldn’t have made it such a success if you hadn’t gone out of your way to help.”
She wanted to kick herself. Why did she make it sound so dramatic?
No response on Jiyong’s side. He acted deaf. His thoughts were somewhere else far far away from the small scene in the kitchen. Sarah waited rubbing circles with her thumb around the doorknob impatiently. She wasn’t anxious to leave. She just wanted an answer. Jiyong continued sitting there like a dead man. “So I’ll just leave then?”
The deafening silence said yes.
She felt disappointed. Leave it to Kwon Jiyong to ruin everything when she was in a good mood. Gosh, why did she even bother in the first place?
Although she didn’t mean to, she slammed the door as she left.
Jiyong woke up from his bluffing dreams and smiled at the door. “You’re welcome.”
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After Story Author Side Notes:
- 15 pages X_x
- Oh gosh, guys I even had to split it into parts. Why must LJ sizes torment me so!!
- Well, it's the second week of April, the lovely opening of spring, and it's blizzarding XD Nothing makes sense anymore! *head desk*
- Anyway, sorry if it was rushed at some parts. I was half awake at times.
- The next chapter's probably going to be pretty short to balance this massive chapter
- And yeah....The last scene was a bit unrelated >.<
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The door swung open as Jiyong and Seunghyun piled in the apartment struggling with the large package. Jiyong felt like his insides wanted to burst as his knees quaked underneath the weight. Seunghyun after all was taller than him and it out weighed the packed to his side.
“Why the heck is it so heavy?” Jiyong groaned as they went down the hall towards Youngbae’s room.
Daesung came in leisurely followed by Sarah and Seungri. “Don’t complain, Hyung. It’s for Youngbae-hyung, anyway.”
“Oh yeah? Well, tell him he has to do something this good for me on my birthday.”
Their noisiness traveled down Youngbae’s room, through the hall, and into the living room.
“Ok. Put it right here.”
“For goodness’ sake, Seungri, don’t shake it! We bought four and there should be four by the time Youngbae gets here.”
“Oppa, gently. Don’t use force. Let it get used to its environment.”
“Well, when I signed up for this band was I pushed gently into this dump? No, I was forced to live up with this environment. Ow!”
“Enough talking, Ji.”
“Oh my freaking gosh! I think you killed it, Hyung!”
“It’s moving, you idiot.”
“I’m hungry.”
“It looks great! Oppa, should like this.”
“Nohrae, you better stay the butt away or I’ll hand you over to the Manyeo.”
Gradually, their excitement died down and they left Youngbae’s room and went to do the rest of the preparations.
Sarah cut out a thin slice from the baking pan. It could easily be covered with icing and Youngbae would never notice the missing piece. She handed the dainty plate to Jiyong who wasn’t doing anything. “Oppa, why don’t you try it?”
“But I wanted to taste it!” Seungri said. “I helped after all.”
“I’ll save you some.” Jiyong smirked at the maknae. Although he disliked anything from Sarah, cake could be a temporary truce anytime. He took a generous bite and choked the instant it touched his tongue. He dashed to the sink and spit it out, causing Sarah to cry out inwardly. She just cleaned the sink.
“What are you two trying to do?” Jiyong gasped. “Make this Youngbae’s last birthday?”
“It can’t be that bad,” Sarah said. She already knew how often Jiyong tended to overact. She took a bite to prove her point. Her eyes widened when the taste registered in her brain.
Seungri was curious and took a bite for himself. He spit it out on his hand and wiped it on the table. “Noona, it tastes like yuck!”
Sarah swallowed her piece bravely. “Seungri, did you add sugar?”
“Lots of it. I even added more when I told you that it tasted bland.”
“Which sugar did you use?”
“The one in the blue jar.”
Sarah lowered her head in defeat. “Seungri, that was salt.”
“Oh…!”
Jiyong leaned on the kitchen sink and looked at them. “Whoa, guys. That’s like a baker’s nightmare.”
Seungri started to panic. “What should we do? Hyung’s going to be here any minute.”
“I’ll get Daesung,” Sarah said. Before she even started getting up from her chair Jiyong did her a great favor.
“Dae, get your butt over here!!!”
“Mm, yes?” His head peeked over the corner from the living room.
Sarah sat back on her chair. “I need you to run to the store and buy the cake.”
“Wait. I thought you guys were making one.”
“Yeah, they were,” Jiyong cut in.
“Oh, I see.”
“I’ll just cover it in icing.” Of course the icing couldn’t go to waste. “That way Oppa will never notice it.”
“You want me to buy an un-iced cake?” Daesung lifted an eyebrow. It was a term unheard of.
“Well, I saw them sell it before.”
Daesung squirmed uneasily. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin the party by buying the wrong cake. “Erm…”
Sarah had seen that look many times before. She stood up and started untying her apron. “I’ll get it if you don’t want to.”
“I’ll come too.” Sarah looked at Jiyong like he was joking. “I mean to the lobby,” He corrected. No way would he go shopping with her even if it was only to buy one item. “Youngbae might arrive before you come so I’ll keep him busy.”
“Mmhmm,” Sarah hung her apron in the closet. “You were supposed to do that anyway.”
And she went without any recognition of appreciation.
Sarah realized how risky it would have been if she sent Daesung to shop. She herself had a difficult time looking for un-iced cake. But she found it nonetheless and she rushed down the street back to the apartment. Jiyong better be good at stalling. The cake would take a while to ice.
She saw Jiyong and Youngbae in the lobby. Jiyong had strategically placed Youngbae with his back facing the entrance. He saw Sarah and shook his head at a question Youngbae had asked him. He looked at her and motioned ‘don’t move’.
“I dunno, Bae,” Jiyong said loudly, causing the secretary and random businessman to google at him. “I think we should take the stairs. I heard the elevator’s being renovated.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is,” Jiyong insisted.
He dragged Youngbae to the stairs, turning his head and giving Sarah the signal to go.
I just might have to thank him after this, Sarah thought, as she sneaked behind them to the elevator. When she reached their floor she saw the last thing she needed to see stalking down the hall. The Manyeo was pacing up and down obviously waiting for someone to pounce on. Sarah groaned quietly. She didn’t have the freaking time for this! She dashed down the hall ignoring her completely and almost knocking the old lady down.
“Yah!” The Manyeo barked. But it was too late. Sarah had already locked the door behind her.
Manager was there helping in the kitchen setting the table. The second Seungri saw Sarah he handed her the icing that he prepared himself. Of course prepared as in he took it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter. He wasn’t going to try to handle food in a long time. Sarah slapped the icing on and did her best to smooth it down. Why was it that when something special was going to be served it had to be rushed to last minute? Sarah’s pensive thinking went back to the first dinner she had as housekeeper.
“Don’t worry,” Daesung assured her. “The more sloppy the more homemade it looks.”
The cake was finished only a moment too soon. The doorbell rang right after she covered the last piece. She gave it to the two Seunghyuns and sent them away to prepare for their grand entrance. As Daesung went to answer the door Sarah tossed her apron in the closet and sat down on a chair beside Manager trying to look as calm as possible.
“Good dinner’s ready,” Jiyong said continuing the act as he set Youngbae down eagerly.
Youngbae noticed something out of place. “Manager-hyung, what are you doing here?”
“Managing.”
“Speaking of Seungri and Seunghyun-hyung,” Daesung said his acting failing miserably. “Where are they?”
Youngbae shrugged. “I dunno.”
Suddenly the lights shut down. Before he could take the chance to announce an official blackout Seungri and Seunghyun came in, holding the lighted cake. It glowed and sent warm orange hues all over the kitchen. Youngbae covered his mouth in surprise and unbelief as they set it down in front of him.
“But guys,” he said, stuttering. “My birthday’s tomorrow.”
Jiyong elbowed him. “Yah, who cares? Your birthday’s today now.”
Nohrae, who came out of nowhere, landed on Youngbae’s shoulder as Daesung spoke. “Besides, Hyung, it was the only way we could surprise you.”
“Thank you, guys,” Youngbae said whole-heartedly and sincerely, his face glowing radiantly in the candlelight. “Thank you so much.”
Jiyong waved it off. “Save it for later. You haven’t sent the living room yet. Now hurry up and make a wish before the candles become part of the cake.”
Youngbae took a thoughtful second and then blew the candles out. Seunghyun turned on the lights as Seungri tried to fan away the smoke.
Sarah laid the cake away for later since they had to get through the real food first. Daesung was worried at first that Youngbae would be too happy to eat, since that was the usual reaction and it would be awkward for everybody else to eat more than the celebrant, but the was not the case. Youngbae was starving from all dance practices he had been drilled through the whole day.
Manager told the same jokes he cracked every birthday. The five had to fake their laughter. Except Seungri. He found it funny because his short memory didn’t remember hearing them at the past birthdays.
Youngbae couldn’t stop thanking them in between swallows and bites. Jiyong patted him on the back causing him to nearly choke on his chopstick. “There’s more, Bae. Save it for later.”
After eating Youngbae cut the cake. The best priority of birthdays was that you could size the pieces anyway you liked and give it to anyone you liked. He passed the biggest slice to Nohrae. The decent sized ones to Daesung, Sarah, Seungri, and Manager and the smallest to Seunghyun and Jiyong. Seunghyun took it like a man unlike Jiyong.
“You freaking spoil that bird!” Jiyong pointed savagely at Nohrae, who was reveling himself in the icing, with his plastic fork.
They went to eat in the living room. Youngbae nearly dropped his plate when he saw the bright and shining walls. Although they were plain and simple anything at the moment could touch Youngbae. He stared open mouth at the banner and cut out letters of his name.
“C’mon.” Daesung tapped him on his shoulder as they piled onto the couch and fought for the middle seat. Seunghyun won dominance and pushed Jiyong off.
Seungri slipped a CD into the DVD player and pressed play.
Youngbae looked at the others. “What’s this about?”
Daesung cut a piece of cake and stuffed it into his hyung’s mouth. “Sh, just watch.”
A countdown flashed on the screen then a video pooped up. An old video from one of their interview’s a while back.
“Youngbae-ssi,” the PD said behind the camera. “What do you like most about the other members?”
The old Youngbae with cornrows sticking under his beanie fidgeted on his chair. “Hmm. They’re all caring, loving, and like brothers. They makeup for the family I really miss. I’m really grateful for them.”
The video faded away and started showing a series of clips and pictures of the happiest moments with Youngbae and the others. His past birthdays. Their debut. And performances. Youngbae himself was too happy to attempt to swallow his cake. Protests came up from the couch when they noticed the number of photos with Jiyong that was showing up on the video.
“Sheesh, Jiyong, you’re so biased,” Seunghyun shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch squished between Seungri and Daesung. “We should have never let you make the video.”
Jiyong kicked him. “Yah, be quiet. We’re getting to the good part.”
The screen blackened and slowly dissolved to a video with Seungri sitting in the kitchen.
“What would you like to say to Youngbae for his birthday?” Jiyong’s voice came from behind the camera.
“Hyung, I hope you have many more birthdays to come! Because it was fun preparing and remember we did this all out of love! Saranghae!” Seungri made a miniature heart with his hands before the video switched to Seunghyun.
“Youngbae-ah,” Seunghyun said in his normal rough and almost demanding voice. “You better like your birthday party. I might not be able to rap after blowing all those balloons.”
“Hyung,” Daesung said in his video. “I want to thank you so much for being carrying and loving to us. You were like an older brother to Seungri and I, and I know how hard it is for you from being away from your family so long. Happy birthday!”
The camera jiggled a bit as Jiyong set it on a table. He sat upright on his bed so the camera would get a good view. “Youngbae-ah,” Jiyong started. “I don’t know if there’s anything else to add from what the others said, but continue working hard and doing your best. Because leader-ssi is happiest when you do and he loves you very much. Youngbae, fighting!”
Before Jiyong could take credit for his video making skills another clip flashed on.
“Is there anything you’d like to say to Youngbae for his birthday?”
Nohrae cocked its head as it stared into the camera. Suddenly, it jumped at the lense and knocked the camera back. The whole room shook as Jiyong yelled somewhere in the background. “What the heck? I’m never doing an interview with that freaking bird again!”
“Yah!” Jiyong stood up much to everybody’s protests as he blocked their view of the screen. “I thought I cut that clip out!”
“Sit down!” They grabbed him and pulled him down so they could enjoy the rest of the video.
Youngbae’s mother and brother appeared on the last clip. “Youngbae-ssi,” his mother waved a warm hand at the camera. “We hope you’re doing okay and staying healthy. I can’t say we don’t worry about you, because we really miss you and wish you were here. Even though you’re so far from us, rest assured that you’ve been a good son and we’re supporting you all the way. Umma really misses you, Youngbae.”
“Youngbae-ah, Happy Birthday.” His brother’s wave was so familiar and cheering that Youngbae found himself waving back at the TV screen. “We love you.”
The video faded to a close and all eyes were on Youngbae waiting for a reaction.
“Is he?” Jiyong removed Youngbae’s hand from his face. “Aww… He’s crying!”
“No, I’m not.” Youngbae flicked the drops quickly from his eyes with his fingertips.
Jiyong sighed into his seat and leaned on Youngbae, pillowing himself on his biceps. “Mission accomplished.”
“Wait, Hyung, there’s more.” Seungri tugged on Youngbae. “You haven’t seen your present yet.”
Youngbae was extremely surprised. The cake and the video was enough to keep him content. Had they actually went out their way for more? Seungri led him to his room with the others following behind. Youngbae’s thoughts were racing, wondering what they could have possibly prepared.
The maknae creaked the door open reveling an aquarium that rested on his desk.
Youngbae covered his mouth in surprise for the fourth time that day and gasped as he saw it, blinking his eyes hoping that it wasn’t a dream. “You didn’t.”
Jiyong pushed him forward. “We did.”
He staggered to the desk and stared at the fish, swimming about ignoring what was going on outside their own territory. “How did you guys know?”
Daesung exchanged glances with Sarah who was equally pleased. “Well, it was Sarah’s idea. She figured that just in case Nohrae had to leave you would still have a pet.”
Youngbae turned to look at the housekeeper who he had to bluntly shunned the past week. “Thank you,” he said, almost whispering. His eyes glowed sincerely. Sarah’s shined back in response.
Jiyong wrinkled his nose as he looked at both of them, feeling somewhat left out and annoyed. He smacked Youngbae’s head lightly. “Yah, that’s enough. Now hurry up and name them.”
Youngbae looked back into the aquarium. Where to start? He picked a yellow-disked fish that was layered in between the domesticated seaweed. “I’ll name it Daesung.”
There were two little red fish chasing each other at the top of the tank. “The bigger one can be Seunghyun and the smaller one is Seungri.”
Jiyong held his head up high in expectation as Youngbae fixed his eyes on the blue tailed fish that was supposedly the jewel of the aquarium. “That,” Youngbae said thinking for a moment. “can be Sarah.”
“What?!” Jiyong squawked. “What about me?”
Seunghyun pointed at a plastic rock that was stuffed into the corner of the aquarium. “That can be you.” He waved ridiculously at the intimate object. “Hi, Jiyong-ah!”
Jiyong stalked off leaving them in outrage. Really!
Jiyong sat on the kitchen chair throwing a tantrum, hoping that he could just rot there, while the others were still in Youngbae’s room cooing over the aquarium. Of course, he was just being childish. He wasn’t really mad. It was just his personality. And Youngbae was very happy. That was all that mattered.
Sarah walked in to get her shoes and leave, since it was already getting late. She passed him as if he didn’t exist and rummaged the coat closet for her hat. If Jiyong had been paying attention he would have noticed that she was staring at him arguing to herself silently. Finally, she bit her lip and threw away some of her pride. “Hey…Thanks for keeping Youngbae busy. We couldn’t have made it such a success if you hadn’t gone out of your way to help.”
She wanted to kick herself. Why did she make it sound so dramatic?
No response on Jiyong’s side. He acted deaf. His thoughts were somewhere else far far away from the small scene in the kitchen. Sarah waited rubbing circles with her thumb around the doorknob impatiently. She wasn’t anxious to leave. She just wanted an answer. Jiyong continued sitting there like a dead man. “So I’ll just leave then?”
The deafening silence said yes.
She felt disappointed. Leave it to Kwon Jiyong to ruin everything when she was in a good mood. Gosh, why did she even bother in the first place?
Although she didn’t mean to, she slammed the door as she left.
Jiyong woke up from his bluffing dreams and smiled at the door. “You’re welcome.”
__________________________
After Story Author Side Notes:
- 15 pages X_x
- Oh gosh, guys I even had to split it into parts. Why must LJ sizes torment me so!!
- Well, it's the second week of April, the lovely opening of spring, and it's blizzarding XD Nothing makes sense anymore! *head desk*
- Anyway, sorry if it was rushed at some parts. I was half awake at times.
- The next chapter's probably going to be pretty short to balance this massive chapter
- And yeah....The last scene was a bit unrelated >.<