The Birthday Girl’s ‘Dark’ History

"""—Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~ happy birthday our dear Lee Yeo Ri~ happy birthday to you~"""

Yeo Ri carefully blew out the candles as the people surrounding her finished singing.

Since she had wanted an ice cream cake, the candles were instead placed on top of cupcakes to prevent the candles from melting the cake. There were only two candles for her to blow, shaped like the number '1' and '6', thus the ceremonial part ended very quickly.

Yeo Ri made a triangular slice on her birthday cake as the crowd took pictures.

As she passed around slices of the strawberry cheesecake-flavoured cake, Yeo Ri found herself grinning. She basked in the celebratory mood, feeling happy and gratified that she was able to celebrate her birthday with so many people.

Yeo Ri glanced around the room, a feeling of satisfaction overflowing in her heart. Here, in her private space, was filled with people who she was close enough to call 'friends and family'. It was a pity that Hyuk wasn't here, but overall she felt satisfied by the experience.

Planning a party at such short notice hadn't been easy. There was so many things to do, such as ordering the foodstuff, cleaning and decorating the room, making party favours, inviting the guests... she had been very lucky that the people whom she had invited were coincidentally free on the day of the event.

Yeo Ri had thought long and hard on who to put in the list of invitees. She had obviously included her friends Min Chae and Jang Mi, her brothers' friends Da Na, Ha Jun, In Guk, and Jin Goo. Then there was her new friend Ryeon Jae Ha whom she met during her earliest work and kept in touch with, and then she had also added her hospital friend Ra Hee who had been temporarily discharged for the time being. She had invited her boss, President Park, too, but the older woman did not want to impose on the young people and thus declined the invitation.

She had deliberated for a night on whether to invite her new cast-mates, but in the end decided to stick with her original decision to not invite them. She wasn't that familiar with them anyways. She had briefly touched upon the fact that she was busy with her birthday party during one of her online chats with Won, and the boy did not seem to feel offended that she did not invite him. Though, it was hard to know for sure since they were only corresponding through text.

Although her party didn't have as many people in attendance as those of her old classmates from way back when, she still enjoyed it very much. She had people who was close to her by her side, a huge cake of her choice, and even good food bought from good shops. She was even able to make her own seaweed soup with higher quality ingredients.

"Yeo Ri, look over here!" In Guk hollered, pointing the lens of his camera towards her.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up towards him, flashing a charming smile as the shutters clicked.

After eating cake, the group decided to watch a movie while leisurely chatting with one another.

Somehow, the topics slowly began revolving around the birthday girl.

"Yeo Ri, do you remember that guy, Yoo Jin Woo? He was the president of your middle school fan club, right? I heard that he joined an idol group competition recently after getting scouted by some agency. I heard the reason why he wanted to become an idol was to be closer to you," Min Chae gossiped.

"Who?"

"Idol trainee?"

"Fan club?"

"Yeo Ri, you had a fan club?"

Her words easily roused the interest of the group. Some had a mystified look, as if they couldn't believe their ears, and others—like Gun—had a face as if they finally realised how far Yeo Ri's admirers could go to show their admiration for her.

"No—!" Yeo Ri made a face as if she wished such a thing did not exist in her history. She flushed in shame, glaring tearfully at Min Chae. "I d—"

Before she could refute the claims, Min Chae cut her off and continued, "—Well, unofficial fan club. They tried to petition to the school to make it official, but obviously it was rejected. They even made a fanpage and everything, and the members were pretty intense. They meant well, though. I made them follow some rules and they were surprisingly dedicated to it."

"Yeah, and you were the supervisor, weren't you, Min Chae?" Jang Mi snorted at the way Min Chae talked as if it did not involve her. This girl right here was the main enabler to the boys' past craziness. She had straightened them out and made sure they didn't act out of line, but Min Chae—Yeo Ri's number one diehard fangirl—had encouraged them to be more passionate about their shared admiration over the poor girl.

Min Chae waved her accusation away with a nonchalant shrug. "I only told them to start a fan club as a joke. How was I suppose to know that they would take it seriously?"

Remembering the fan club and how the founding members had consulted her in its formation, Min Chae could not help but laugh. She began reciting the rules of the fan club which had been ingrained in her brain. She had been the enforcer, after all.

"'Rule Number 1 of the Lee Cheonsa Fan Club—respect Cheonsa's privacy!'"

"'Rule Number 2–don't approach Cheonsa without permission!'"

"'Rule Number 3–only consumables are allowed to be gifted to Cheonsa!'"

"'Rule Number 4–pictures can only be taken once a week. If anybody is found to be taking candid photos of Cheonsa without her permission or knowledge, that person will be punished!'"

"Last but not least, 'Rule Number 5–Lee Cheonsa is everyone's angel! Selfishness will not be tolerated!'"

"'Follow these rules, or face the wrath of the Mad Dogs!'"

Min Chae cackled as she laid out what Yeo Ri felt was the most embarrassing thing to have ever happened to her in school.

"Goo Min Chae, you—!" Yeo Ri shrieked, reaching out her hands to grab her friend after the betrayal. She hadn't known that her best friend had been the main perpetrator! And the d*mned rules! Sure, it had been useful back then, but it was so ridiculous that such a thing had to exist, Yeo Ri thought. Why couldn't she have a normal school life?

Fortunately, Gun caught his embarrassed sister before she could hurt herself or anyone else, pulling her into a hug to calm her down. "There, there," he coaxed her while patting her back.

Yeo Ri buried her face in her brother's chest, her face burning with shame.

"Woah, you're pretty amazing, Lee Cheonsa! To think that you even had a fan club before you got famous... I'm really proud of you, Lee Cheonsa!" Ra Hee teased. Finally! It was Yeo Ri's turn to be the teased! Ra Hee marvelled in the refreshing feeling being the bully instead of the bullied for once.

"Noooo—!" Yeo Ri was so embarrassed that tears naturally came out of her eyes. Yeo Ri hadn't wanted Gun to know about that thing, but Min Chae seemed intent on roasting her to death.

"Goo Min Chae, stop it! I hate you—!" Yeo Ri protested.

"Hahaha—!"

Unfortunately for the birthday girl, her diehard-fangirl-slash-best-friend felt no remorse for her tea-spilling.

Thus, the group continued to merry-make.