Birthday Present

Present times

"That's great, Selena!" A sudden shout resonates. The room clapped, and workers' cheers filled the whole palace. The busy room was filled with murmurs of people bustling here and there, trying to wrap everything up as Selena Gomez's song played faintly in the background.

"Natalie… I can't thank you enough, and the photos turned out to be amazing. I should tell them about you to help again next time," Selena told her amazing photographer Natalie, making her laugh along with joy.

"I'm happy you like the pictures and of course! Call me next time you have my numbers!" After that, Selena hugged her, which was a wrap for the shoot. It was a tiring day, and Natalie was ready to pack her things when she was ushered by her assistant and best friend, Lee Ji-won.

Life was beginning to turn out as Natalie wanted. After all the pain and hard work, she became successful and decided to be a world-class photographer, going through different countries. She was no longer the Natalie people had known her. She had proved her worth and was ready to face everything.

Lee Jiwon, Natalie's assistant slash college buddy. They had accidentally met during on-campus orientation. Being the Natalie she is, accidentally goes into the wrong group. There she met Lee Jiwon, who decided that Natalie would click with her and would be her best friend.

Jiwon decided to help with work since Natalie had asked for help. Jiwon, working for a fashion-line company, was permitted to help since Natalie was a regular photographer.

"Natty!" Natalie was going to greet the girl when a sudden tight hug attacked her. She chuckles and hugs Jiwon closer while muttering a quiet 'I am squish' to her friend, "Happy Birthday! Gifts are in the penthouse, and we must have a girl's night."

Natalie could only chuckle at her friend and nods, "Gosh, I feel so old right now. Imagine being 25 years old – Ugh… I want to go back when I am eighteen again." Natalie groans, and Jiwon can't help to shake her head.

"You wouldn't have met me if your wish came true," Jiwon said, and Natalie could only nod.

"Wouldn't that be a dream? I wouldn't have to hear you nagging on my ass all day."

"Do you want to work all these ass paperwork yourself? I mean, resigning my job from you?" Jiwon asked, and Natalie could only smile as she shook her head.

"Do I have another shoot? I remember I have something today?" Natalie asks Jiwon, and she nods he head.

"Yup! I could cancel, you know… it's your birthday today! I was even debating cancelling your meetings with Selena today, but it seems urgent and –" Natalie flicks her friend's head.

"It was better if you didn't need the money, which could be used to buy food, you know –" Natalie took her back –" besides, I like working… it's fun. Now, what's the following schedule?" Jiwon could only hiss at her friend for flicking her head and checking her phone before she looked at the timetable.

"You have another photoshoot with The Kardashians, and they wanted a new bathing suit line –" Jiwon looks at the time, and her eyes widen –" WE'RE BEHIND SCHEDULE!!!"

She then calls the driver as she drags a lagging Natalie behind her.

"Hold – Ji… you're going to pull my arms off its socket!" Natalie laughs –" Which Kardashian are we working for this time?"

Jiwon looks at her friend bewildered, "Didn't I send you the schedule yesterday? Why aren't you making my assistant life much harder, Natty." Her best friend whines.

Natalie looks at her friend as she ushers her into the car. Settling down in the car, Jiwon opened up the folder and showed her the new bathing line, "These are the new line and the vibes they wanted – " handing a paper to Natalie.

As Nami was holding her phone ding and her face lit up

KwonSeo: Happy (early?/late?) birthday Natty… I've sent you your gifts in your inbox. See you soon, babe!

Natalie texted back her best friend when she opened up to see a pdf of writings, and closely Nami was surprised to see Seoyeon had bought her tickets to a concert.

-

"Alright! Take five. Then we'll go again," in a large stadium, four guys drop their bodies on the stage. Some begin bickering around the stage while others talk to the crew.

"Thank you so much!" the four of them leave their instruments and head back to the green room to prepare for the concert. One of the members was sitting, scrolling through his phone.

Hansel, who saw Jonathan scrolling through his phone, looked at his brother as he sat down, wrapping his arms around him.

"Jo, you're having the best day of your life…" Hansel looks at his smiling brother, and Wonwoo shakes his head, "More smiling than the last few days. What gives?"

"The fans were so excited for our comeback. It's so funny to see them on social media," Jonathan smiles, and Hansel pats his back. Hansel then peeks over to Jonathan's phone to see Jonathan looking at a picture of a girl making the cheeky elder take the telephone from Jonathan's hand.

"Guys!!! Jo is in love!!!!" Jonathan, who was trying to grab his phone from his over-excited bandmates.

"Give it back, you ass!" Jonathan, who was laughing, semi-panicking, had his phone back and his other two bandmates' attention on him. They were teasing Jonathan and even bothering him for the name of the lucky girl he had been eyeing.

Jonathan Hills, the guy who tried to achieve his dreams, finally made his debut and become one of the four members of the foreign swaggers, a famous indie band of all times. With all the blood, sweat and tears they poured out, they overcame the hardship and became pop stars.

They were well-known, and being the biggest band meant fans screaming worldwide. Currently, they were practising their moves for the upcoming world tour they were going on. They were currently in LA, practising their new music. After coming through their America tour, they hit on their next journey.

"Jo, I didn't think our bag of luck had someone on his mind," Eric snickers at his friend, sitting beside Tyler, who was also chuckling at his brother's beet-red face.

"Jo… you should tell us who made the 'Jonathan Miller' flustered like this!" Tyler said excitingly, and Jonathan could only look at him and shake his head. He's not going to hear the end of this.

"How about we finish the last setlist and – "loud groans erupted. Tyler and Eric tried to bug the latter more, creating a fun atmosphere – "Michael, please make them stop, or I might throw them off the bridge…" Jonathan pleads with their manager.

Mikael, Foreign Swagger's manager, could only shake his head and chuckle, "No, can do, my friend. You'll need to find a drummer and bassist first before you throw those knuckleheads off the bridge."

Laughing, they all agree to continue, but knowing that Jonathan would be teased this day makes his heart giddy. How could he not? He was coming back and going to meet that special someone.

No, he was going to explain and then ask to be friends. He wanted her to become a part of his life. He was ready to meet the person he was familiar with, the person he had followed, as he had kept an eye on her for a long time. He had never forgotten her, the reason why he worked so hard to achieve his dreams.