Chapter 54: Sweet Birthday (1)

Kang Ra-Eun texted Seo Yi-Seo that she would be late because her drama shoot ran late today as well, and that she was heading to Starlight Road right now by car. She had sent this text because they had another study gathering planned today. As she did, she received a call from Yi-Seo.

“Hello?” Ra-Eun answered.

- Are you coming straight to the cafe, Ra-Eun?

Ra-Eun had done so last week, but she would not today.

“No, I’m going to drop by my house first.”

- Hm? Why? Weren’t you gonna be coming straight here like last time? I’m sure it’s a hassle for you to drop by your house first. Or, did you forget your backpack there?

Ra-Eun looked at her backpack laid on the adjacent seat, filled with workbooks for the study meeting. However...

“Yeah. I forgot it.”

- Okay, then. You don’t have to rush, so be careful, okay?

“Okay, thanks.” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ra-Eun always felt like she was being healed whenever she talked with Yi-Seo on the phone. Shin Yu-Bin tilted her head in confusion after Ra-Eun ended her call.

“Isn’t that your backpack next to you, Ra-Eun?”

“It is.”

“Then why did you lie that you forgot it at your house? It’s right there.”

“Because I need to remove my make-up and change.”

Ra-Eun had lied to Yi-Seo because she was in full make-up like last week.

“Why? Didn’t you go like that last time as well? You said your friends loved seeing you like that,” Yu-Bin remarked.

“They did, but there is a problem separate from that.”

“What kind of problem?”

“My friends kept stealing glances at me.”

It was especially true for the boys. She couldn’t help but be bothered when they were staring at her when they should have been staring at the workbook. Yu-Bin was convinced by Ra-Eun’s explanation.

“I guess they would. Teenage boys are highly interested in the opposite sex, after all. Don’t you also receive tons of love confessions?”

“I guess so.”

Ra-Eun did not refute it, because it was the truth. Not only that, Yu-Bin would not believe her even if she said no, so she decided to just acknowledge it.

“How many times?” Yu-Bin asked.

“I’d never counted.”

She had never even thought to do so either.

“Meaning you received so many that you couldn't count them all. That’s our Ra-Eun for you.”

Ra-Eun could not understand why Yu-Bin was so proud.

“I’m sure you’ll be getting tons again for a while,” Yu-Bin expressed.

“Why?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day soon, and White Day after that. Aren’t there tons of love confession events on such special days?”

Valentine’s Day and White Day. Come to think of it, it was her first time experiencing those days since becoming a high school girl. However, she did not mind it much.

“Valentine’s Day and White Day are just marketing strategies made by sweets businesses to sell more chocolate and candy.”

Ra-Eun nonchalantly said something that Chairman Ji would have been sad about if he had heard it. But even so, Yu-Bin did not give up in appealing to Ra-Eun the importance of such events.

“You’re not wrong, but teenagers can dream. It’s the last event of their teenage years, so isn’t it nice to create heart-pounding happenings? It can also become a story for them to tell others later.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

Ra-Eun was not all that interested in such things. Yu-Bin smiled bitterly at the apathetic Ra-Eun. Yu-Bin did not know if it was because Ra-Eun was in the entertainment industry or had been like that since birth, but she sometimes thought that Ra-Eun did not act like a teenage girl when she looked at her.

***

Ra-Eun removed her make-up and changed into comfortable clothes as soon as she came back home. She took out and wore the down jacket again after a sudden cold wave had hit in February.

As she was about to head out the front door after getting ready, Kang Ra-Hyuk called out to her.

“Ra-Eun, you know what day February 14th is, right?”

February 14th was the Valentine’s Day that she had discussed with Yu-Bin about. Ra-Eun glared at her brother.

“Don’t even think about getting any chocolates from me. I’ll never give any to you,” she declared.

She was not even going to give the commonplace obligatory chocolates. She would consider giving them to women, but absolutely not to men, even if the man was her brother. Her father was fine, but absolutely not her brother. Even if they were family, she just did not want to give Ra-Hyuk any chocolates.

Ra-Hyuk laughed when Ra-Eun mentioned chocolates.

“Hey, you think I said that because I wanted chocolates from you? You have no idea how many girls give me chocolates on Valentine’s Day.”

Ra-Eun would have replied “What a load of crap”

if she had heard that last summer, but she could not say such a thing anymore. She had witnessed it herself that his words were the truth.

Ra-Hyuk was quite popular with the ladies on his campus, whether they were of the same year, upperclassmen or underclassmen. Five women had already come to their home because of a school report. In other words, Ra-Hyuk would receive chocolates from at least five people, or possibly even get confessed to.

“Why are you bringing up Valentine’s Day if not for chocolates?” Ra-Eun asked.

Ra-Hyuk pointed at the calendar as he stared at her blunt little sister.

“Have you forgotten even your own birthday?”

February 14th was Valentine’s Day, as well as...

‘My birthday.’

She had honestly never even thought about it. It was obvious, since her birthday in her past life was in August. The birthday of Kang Ra-Eun had not even been on her mind since she had only thought of her original birthday.

Ra-Hyuk said while looking at Ra-Eun strangely, “However busy you may be, how could you forget your own birthday? Anyway, I’ll treat you to something good on that day, so free up some time. Let’s go out to eat as a family with Dad, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll let you know later once I check my schedule.”

She had never expected that she had been born on such a sweet day.

***

Once Ra-Eun finally joined her friends, they were momentarily disappointed as soon as they saw her.

Seeing that, Na Gyu-Rin scolded them, “You guys are disappointed that Ra-Eun isn’t in full make-up again, aren’t you?”

She was so right on the mark that they flinched. The same went for Seo Yi-Jun standing by the counter. He had come to work at the cafe when it wasn’t a working day for him, because he had heard that Ra-Eun had come to the study meeting in full make-up before. Yi-Jun had never seen Ra-Eun with make-up on, so he wanted to fulfill that wish of his.

However, Ra-Eun was not that easy.

‘I’m glad I dropped by my house first.’

Things had gone exactly as she had expected them to go.

Ro-Mi asked Ra-Eun as soon as she took her seat, “Ra-Eun, are you free next week?”

“Next week?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Yup. Gyu-Rin and I are gonna be making chocolates here. Yi-Seo said she would teach us.”

It could have been because Yi-Seo’s father owned a cafe, but she not only knew how to brew coffee, but could even bake all kinds of desserts such as cakes, cookies, and the like. Yi-Seo was the most domestic among Ra-Eun’s list of friends.

Once Ro-Mi mentioned chocolates, Ra-Eun figured out right away why Ro-Mi had asked her if she had time next week.

“Is it because of Valentine’s Day?” Ra-Eun asked.

“Yup.”

“Did you find someone you like?”

Since Ro-Mi had gotten used to Ra-Eun’s straightforward style of speech, she shook her head without getting flustered.

“No, just for exchanging between friends. Just because you’re making chocolates doesn’t mean you’re giving them to someone of the opposite sex that you like.”

“I guess that’s true.”

“So, do you have time?”

Ra-Eun was the busiest person here. She had drama shoots and broadcasts to be in. Since Ra-Eun was living a completely different life from a normal high schooler, her friends always had to confirm her schedule whenever they wanted to do something with her.

“I’m probably free on any day except on Valentine’s Day and the day before.” she replied.

“Do you have a shoot scheduled on that day?”

“No, I just have personal plans.”

“Oh, really?” Ro-Mi showed very deep interest. “Do you have plans with someone, perhaps? With a man, or maybe another man?”

“Why are men the only choices?”

“Well, if someone’s spending their personal time with someone else on a day like Valentine’s Day, it’s highly likely that they’re of the opposite sex, isn’t it? At least, that’s what I think.”

The boys also showed their interest in Ro-Mi's question, especially Choi Sang-Woon, who had been turned down by Ra-Eun after confessing to her. His ears perked up with the anxiety that Ra-Eun had possibly gotten a boyfriend.

“I guess it’s a man,” Ra-Eun confirmed.

Her friends and Yi-Jun lost their minds by her shocking statement.

Cough, cough!

Coughs and deep sighs could be heard all around. Even Yi-Seo was considerably surprised.

“A-A man? F-For real?”

“I’m talking about my family. My brother and dad. Don’t start getting weird ideas.”

“Oh... I see.”

Sighs of relief could be heard all around this time.

“But why with your family?”

There were many holidays which one spent with their family, such as New Year’s Day or Christmas. However, Valentine’s Day was not really one of them. Ra-Eun showed signs of hesitation, but she decided to just say it.

“My birthday is on Valentine’s Day, apparently.”

It was as if she was talking about someone else. Sang-Woon and Yi-Jun’s eyes flashed at the mention of Ra-Eun’s birthday. Compared to them, Yi-Seo and her other friends congratulated her upcoming birthday.

“Your birthday is on Valentine’s Day? That’s so nice!”

“Is it?”

Ra-Eun would have to come face to face with a birthday sweeter than she would like.

Yi-Seo said as her friends’ representative, “Is there anything you want as a gift?”

“Gift, huh...?”

There was one thing that Ra-Eun truly wanted as a gift.

‘It’d be great if I could get a button that could drop Kim Han-Gyo and Kim Chi-Yeol straight into hell.’

If such a button existed, then she was confident that she would press it hundreds of thousands of times.